I prefer my Battlestar Galactica as a vague, distant memory involving Lorne Greene and some second-rate action figures, but if you’re into the new version, apparently these chicks posing on these Vespas are what the kids call “hot.” Also, it is awesome that whenever someone posts a photo of attractive celebrity women on a scooter forum, someone starts digging into how unauthentic the bike is. We rule.
Category: Scooter News
This month’s Piaggio news
We haven’t done a news roundup in about a month, so we’re breaking it down by company. Here are some late-February/early-March news stories about Piaggio and Vespa:
- Vespa’s anime-porn-styled pre-Valentines-Day ad on Yahoo is red-flagged by personal security experts. (Little do they know PiaggioUSA have never figured out how to spam.)
- In Mid-February, a PiaggioUSA press release explains that a new study (financed by Piaggio) has solved New York’s traffic and environmental woes. The press takes their word for it (the study isn’t included in the press release) and the story makes news nationwide.
- On February 22, Piaggio announced big plans for foreign plants and 1 million vehicles annualy by 2010. The plan includes regional manufacturing and distribution to facilitate the growth (from 2006’s 850,000 vehicles).
- Vespa and Piaggio scooters are now available down the street from the Bluth’s Banana Stand.
- “All I could think as I rode the Vespa GTV250 in unseasonable rain along Cape Town’s Atlantic coast was: ‘Who on earth will lay out [$9400] for a scooter?'” Motoring.za test-rides the Vespa GTV250.
- The PR-fluff-boilerplate “Police on scooters” story meets the MP3 era as Savannah cops test the three-wheeler on St. Patrick’s day. Intrepid!
- On Friday, March 16, Piaggio announced 2006 profits were up 10.4% over 2005. A 0.03-euro dividend to investors has been proposed.
Piaggio targets Indian scooter market
You read it here a week ago (and should have read it here three months ago), but it just hit the Indian business press today: Vespa and Aprilia are launching a subsidary in India, and will manufacture scooters there for the Indian market, including more fuel-efficent versions of Aprilia’s larger-displacement models.
Catching up with Bajaj
The last month has been busy for Bajaj:
On February 9, 2007, Bajaj Auto announced a demerger plan that would seperate the company into two different organizations. An automotive group would be headed by Rajiv Bajaj, with a finance and insurance group run by his brother Sanjiv. Rumors began to circulate that there is a disagreement between the brothers, reminiscent of the the ugly fight between their father Rahul and his brother Shishir that resulted in an earlier break-up the business empire started by their grandfather Jamnalal Bajaj. Rahul, while admitting that his sons had strong and differing personalities, played down any animosity.
Around the same time, Bajaj Auto announced they’d scale back their 100cc motorcycle segment and focus on larger bikes at a similar price-point. A week later, a 200cc Pulsar was released, and and some new commercial vehicles were announced. Bajaj announced a “high end” 220cc motorcycle in the works, announced a 2-wheeler plant in Brazil, and hinted they were looking at the consumer automobile market, and Bajaj stock rose substantially.
A few days later (Feburary 16) the Financial Express reported that Bajaj Auto had started a feud with Hero Honda by planning to build a luxury Bajaj “Pro-Biking” boutique right next to Hero Honda’s corporate headquarters. The showroom would be the second of 55 such shops planned for 2007 with “a technology centre for in-depth understanding of the technology and a specially designed dynamometer for inside showroom test ride.” Bajaj plans to invest $17.5 million in the Pro-Biking showrooms. (A later storie used the figure $67.5 million)
The same day, Sri Lanka banned the import of 2-stroke three-wheelers. Sanjiv was unfazed, claiming that a switch to 4-stroke engines would be nearly effortless.
On the 18th, Bajaj offered bikes for sale on its website for the first time.
On the 21st, Bajaj Auto announced they’d make a decision about the demerger in May.
Feburary 24th brought news that Yamaha, in the midst of joint-venture talks with Bajaj Auto, was considering abandoning the Indian market.
On the 26th, amid rising inflation and labor unrest, Rahul represented industrialist India on a television show called “Citizen’s Budget. The same day, Sanjiv announced that Bajaj had exported 3,000 knocked-down Pulsars to Iran, which will go on sale there in April.
On March 3, Bajaj executive S Sridhar cited bloggers as essential to Bajaj’s marketing strategy (you’re welcome!). Sridhar told the Economic Times that Pulsar reviews were online withing three hours of the launch, and that Bajaj marketing executives watched blogs very closely for feedback (hello, Piaggio!).
On March 7, Bajaj slashed prices on its 100-cc Platina motorcycles to clear the way for bigger models as expected. Meanwhile, Bajaj Allianz, the insurance division who had earlier in the month signed a deal with BMW for auto insurance, announced they were targeting the retail bank sector and applied for a banking license. The talk in Pune, however, was more likely the Industrial Sports Association basketball final, where Tata Motors and Bajaj met that evening. Sadly, we can’t find a result, but we hope Bajaj pulled off a victory. Probably not, because yesterday, they announced they were raising prices on most models and that they would not take over Yamaha’s operations. Interestingly, they restated their committment to abandoning the 100cc motorcycle segment while announcing that a new 1-million capacity 100cc Platina factory in Uttarakhand will open in April.
So what did you do last month? Yes, we just posted six thousand words about Bajaj and didn’t even mention a single scooter. But we do have the dancing Rahul photos in our possesion, so keep reading…
SunL Sucks?
Phil’s review of the SunL microcar got a few laughs over on the SunL Sucks bulletin board. It’s funny that many Chinese brands’ hate sites and bad reviews have higher Google rankings than the brands’ official site. As we always say, if you:
- have no problem buying a scooter you can’t see first-hand, and sit on, and test-ride before buying,
- have no problem risking your life on a motor vehicle that costs less than you spend on coffee in a year,
- have no interest in after-sale support, maintenance, or parts availability, and
- trust a Chinese company and a fly-by-night importer to keep your best interests in mind,
then by all means, buy a Chinese scooter on the internet. Also be sure not to do any research beforehand, and ride helmetless, in flip-flops. You also don’t need a license, plates or insurance and you can park and even ride on the sidewalk. Have fun.
2007 Dealer Expo: POCphil’s review
Since a week has passed and I still haven’t been able to collect my thoughts on the ginormous mindblowing extravaganza in Indianapolis, here’s POCphil‘s writeup. I’ll add my comments in italics where appropriate. -2SB
We were so excited to get to the Indianapolis Dealer Expo this year, we were running about 2 hours early. We took that time to go visit Speed City Cycles in Indianapolis, only a few minutes from the Show. Mike and Marybeth Tockey have created a fantastic shop with an ingenious use of space and rural/industrial feel that leaves room for a snack bar, lounge and a ton of scooters and accessories. Mike also builds award winning metric cruisers. Just hanging around his IWL Berliner is a treat. After a great tour and some bench racing we were back on our mission to deliver two scooters to the Scoot! Magazine/ Corazzo booth and still arrive early enough at the hotel for some hottubbing before showing up in time for the open bar at 4PM, whew!
Continue reading “2007 Dealer Expo: POCphil’s review”
CDOT’s Chicago Scooterist Roundtable: May 4
After gathering input from Chicago scooterists last month, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Department of Environment are hosting a Chicago Scooterist Roundtable at the Chicago Center for Green Technology (445 North Sacramento Boulevard) on Friday, May 4, 2007 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Our contact Charles Roesner tells us, “At the session, scooterists will be encouraged to discuss the potential positive impacts of increased use of scooters in Chicago. Scooterists will also have the opportunity to detail the challenges and barriers that they face while riding scooters in Chicago. They will be able to make suggestions and recommendations to CDOT and DOE as to how the environment for scootering in Chicago could be improved.”
This meeting is something many of us have dreamed about for years, so mark your calendars and take the afternoon off work. For more information and action plans, email 2SB, or check the CHIscooterList.
Colaninno: “We will make a new Vespa for India”
Dave McCabe sent me the following article on New Year’s Eve and, sadly, I’m just getting around to posting it, even though it’s probably the most interesting Piaggio news since EICMA. The story, written by Adil Jal Darukhanawala, appeared in the December, 2006 issue of Bike India. I generally don’t swipe entire magazine stories, but it’s not on the web and most of us don’t have a subscription to Bike India, so here goes: (emphasis is ours, click the thumbnail to enlarge it)
Piaggio Plans new age Indian Vespa along with a slew of other two-wheelers as it prepares to re-enter the Indian bike sphere.
The Vespa, replete with classic style but new age mechanicals could be back in India as parent Piaggio gets ready to increase its presence in India’s booming automotive sphere, according to no less an authority than Roberto Colaninno himself. Speaking exclusively to BIKE INDIA at EICMA in Milan, Colaninno told us that India was too large to ignore and also too vibrant to be tackled with existing models. Having been absent in two-wheelers since its deal with Kanpur-based LML Limited expired a few years ago, Piaggio has concentrated on a range of utility three-wheelers and has done pretty well in that area to date.
At the Milan Show BIKE INDIA caugt up with both Roberto Colaninno and also Ravi Chopra, CEO of Piaggio Vehicles in India and they both confirmed that it was only a matter of time before the company went on to add both two as well as four wheeled vehicles in its portfolio. “We will make a new Vespa for India, classic shape yes but totally new engine and technology to compete with others,� were the actual works of the Piaggio bossman.
Continue reading “Colaninno: “We will make a new Vespa for India””
Piaggio targets 1 million units, more foreign production
Allow me to dissect some quotes from this Forbes story:
Piaggio SpA plans to open production sites in Brazil and Vietnam to reach its production target of 1 mln vehicles by 2010, chairman and CEO Roberto Colaninno said…
That means every Farm and Fleet will get a weekly shipment of 48 Piaggio Flys, an LX50, and one top-end Moto Guzzi.
The producer of motorcycles and light commercial vehicles manufactured 650,000 vehicles in 2006,…an additional 200,000 units were produced by Piaggio’s joint venture in China but are not consolidated in the group’s sales…
They’ll be counting Chinese production as part of that one million, I bet.
Colaninno said that Piaggio has superceded its restructuring phase and will now focus on growth.
Scooterists don’t need Forbes to tell us Piaggio is focused on growth, to the detriment of any other attribute.
Colaninno added that the group will have three business areas — Europe, the Americas and Asia/Africa — which will have their own production sites and distribution networks.
HOLD THE PHONE– are they saying that Piaggio products for the Americas will be produced IN THE AMERICAS? (i.e. Brazil?) Very interesting.
The group’s brands — Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Guzzi and Aprilia — will be maintained but have similar distribution channels, he said.
How has Derbi stayed out of this mess? And will high-end motorcycle buyers stand for Brazillian product?
The story also reports that production in India is up, with a new diesel engine plant in the works. It’s hard to say these days what’s built where, and where the components come from, but if the Pontedera factory is not already an anachronism for tourists, it looks like it may be within the next decade. We look forward to more corporate chest-banging at Piaggio’s Berlin Conference tomorrow.
Only In Jakarta…
Racecar Bob (aka Letterpress Bob, who printed us some fantastic new business cards that I keep forgetting to post about,) found these photos of a Batik-covered low-rider scooterette. Actually, a Bajaj or LML would look pretty sweet covered in that Indian batik fabric they sell in the back room at Moti Mahal, but covering a scooter in fabric seems less-than-practical.
News particles, February 10, 2007
More news from the past week:
- Kymco Canada is teaming up with Motoress to attract more Canadian women to scootering. Both parties seem to think the way to attract women to scootering is to glam it up, which is their prerogative, but that tack seems a little superficial and patronizing to me.
- A few stories covering Italy’s soccer ban cited the famous May, 2001 incident where Atalanta supporters snuck a Lambretta into the San Siro and dropped it off the balcony onto AC Milan fans. Yeah, that’s not very good security.
- Scooter backlash and vandalism is out of control at the University of Florida, scooterists blame the lack of scooter-specific parking.
- Speaking of Florida and smashed scooters, even Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy aren’t safe, their bike was smashed up while they ate (and copiously made out) in a Miami restaurant.
The Chicago Cycle World International Motorcycle Show is this weekend, stories and photos coming soon.
“A Date with the Undead”
Zombies and gin don’t mix. I should have known this, but I learned it the hard way on my first date with a hot and moody scooter rider…
This dating horror story from Time Out Chicago has got to be about someone we know. I’d bet on Chad, but no one would ever describe him as “hot.”
News chunks: February 7, 2007
Here’s what Vina–and R. Kelly–missed while having their appendices removed:
- The Hartford Courant ran a decent-but-typical scooter trend roundup story Tuesday.
- 40 scooterists rode through Cardiff, Wales to promote a stage adaptation of Quadrophenia.
- Indian political contender Surjit Singh Kohli is campaigning on a scooter in Punjab, while nearly 100 supporters of another Punjabi politician rallied on scooters.
- Bajaj will feature digital twin-spark ignition (DTSi) on all models starting in 2008
- The MP3 isn’t the only new three-wheeler out there. Also, (thanks Chandler),there’s this. Or (thanks, Vespabelle,) this. Hopefully Piaggio won’t face much marketplace confusion from these other vehicles.
- Australian police note that scooterists are creating traffic mayhem down under.
- Kinetic’s sales and income are up, but investors don’t seem to care.
Welcome home, Vina! Now if I could just remember where I put our daughter…
Scooter games
Four scooter video games at vespa.org.uk.
Kinetic details 2007 plans, and Dragster
Following the success of the Blaze, Kinetic announced more specific 2007 plans today. As previously announced, the Indian company will release three scooters this year. The new details:
- The first scooter (due “as soon as April”) will be called the Euro, with a 125-135 cc engine and targeted towards whatever passes as a “luxury” market in India. It will be based on the design of one of the seven designs licensed from Italjet,
though it’s not clear whichthe Italjet Jet Set. - The second scooter will be a four-stroke, sub-100cc, SYM-designed scooterette to be launched in May (SYM–based in Taiwan–owns 11.1% of Kinetic).
- The third scooter (India never ceases to amaze us) will be the Dragster. The Business Standard describes the Dragster as “co-owned by Italjet and KMCL…the only brand that [was] not completely bought out by the two-wheeler manufacturer.” The Kinetic/Italjet Dragster is due out by the end of the year. Feel free to speculate away on whether this will be the same Dragster touted by Italjet and DiamoUSA.