Italjet has announced their new 400cc Marco Polo, and the French (and I) have scooped Italjet’s U.S. marketing director. It looks nice, I’d love to see it in person. Next weekend. At Dealer Expo.
Category: Scooter News
Baron Princess
Baron Motors has unleashed this beast on the ladies of America. I thought it was a joke at first, but I think he’s serious. I guess at least it’s still not quite as bad as last year’s darlings of DealerExpo, Vintini Motors.
Bajaj sales down
Following recent news that Italian scooter sales have dropped, Bajaj Auto’s January report shows a 15% drop in two-wheeler sales. More astonishing: In 2000, Bajaj sold close to 800,000 Chetaks, if we’re reading this data correctly, only 1,100 of the 1,66,492 two-wheelers they sold in January are scooters (presumably Kristals, their only current model). All you readers who wonder why we cover Bajaj might have a point. (TradingMarkets.com)
Leo DiCaprio, you’re our 12th customer!
Vectrix is apparently having a hard time selling their sweet-but-expensive electric scooters, maybe a little celebrity buzz can help.
Italian sales down, under-50ccs up in January
An Italian industry association reported yesterday that over-50cc new scooter registrations dropped 7.7 percent (25,896 units registered) in January, but 50cc registrations are up 9.7% (7,838 units registered). Motorcycle sales also suffered, dropping 11.9% (9601 units registered). (Forbes)
In arder t0 instal Pinasco PX/Rally performances…
P!nasco’s instrcutions on the line for perf0rmances kIt install appears to been mutiIated by bo1th machInes trans1ati0r *and* by the text recognizer soft war e. (Thanks, Matty)
Chinese automobile logo rip-offs
Everyone keeps saying “sooner or later, China will get their act together and dominate the market,” which is probably true, and every U.S. importer wants to believe they’ve found the only good Chinese manufacturer, but here’s a clue about what we’re dealing with there for now.
Vespa Navy
Piaggio today announced the immediate availability of two 60th-anniversary Vespa models in navy blue (“Midnight Blue Metallic”). The LXV and GTV are retro-ized versions of the LX and GT that were originally released in 2006 to coincide with the Vespa’s 60th anniversary (and it took me until now to realize that “LX” is the Roman numeral for “60”). Continue reading “Vespa Navy”
“Andretti” scooters
The latest in scooter badge engineering: PSF’s Andretti Scooters.
Yes, that Andretti.Purchase Point Media Corporation, who recently bought Power Sports Factory, (who sells Chinese-made “Yamati” and “Strada” scooters) has licensed auto-racing legend Mario Andretti’s name for a line of scooters. Continue reading ““Andretti” scooters”
Piaggio steps up Asian operations, hybrids due late 2008
At a press event in Mumbai today, Piaggio announced plans to re-enter the Indian scooter market, focusing on manufacturing hybrids for the local market by 2010. The press release states that the company will be selling Vespa/Piaggio hybrids in Europe by the end of this year.
Piaggio has been producing 3- and 4-wheeled utility vehicles in India for years, but has avoided the crowded scooter market. The press release also lists new agreements with partners and suppliers, and hints at more. It also outlines their operations in China (a partnership with Zongshen Group, making Piaggios for local and world markets), Vietnam (a new factory manufacturing scooters for local markets), and Japan (a new importer/distributor).
Vectrix: $819,000 sales, $54m losses.
Vectrix clearly has a lot of money behind them, an exciting product, and a bright future, but financially, they didn’t have a great 2007. I’d hate to see this turn out to be one of those stories where they don’t live to see the market they created.
$2500 Tata Nano
The big news today, of course, is the launch of India’s Tata Motors’ $2500 Nano automobile. That’s right, India is building cars (there are more on the way from other makers, including a possible Renault/Bajaj collaboration) that cost half as much as a new Vespa. And Tata, who you’ve probably never heard of until this week, is a rapidly-growing superpower with steel, manufacturing, automotive, industrial, and hotel resources. The company is currently in the process of acquiring the pride of their former imperialist conqueror, Land Rover/Jaguar, from Ford Motor Co.
Ratan Tata, quoted in a press release, described the origins of the car:
I observed families riding on two-wheelers–the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby. It lead me to wonder whether one could conceive of a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family.
Citroen 2cv brochures
A link stolen from my day job: Nicely-designed Citroen brochures from the ’60s.
POC on MTV
See POCPhil sell a scooter to a demanding, spoiled little cow on MTV’s “My Super Sweet Sixteen.” Man, the POC showroom is looking good. See the whole Chanae episode here (I won’t give away the ending, mostly because it’s just too painful to talk about). (Thanks for the link, Eric.)
LML (and ACMA?) back in France
The LML Star (aka Genuine Stella) is back on the market in France and the Scooter Station interviewed the French importer (in French, here’s a translation). Interesting, especially the talk of the revival of the ACMA name.