New SYM bikes are from 2009

If you're a dead brand or a brand without a distributor the industry press will not cover you. There is no potential for ads so who gives a flying cow about the end user right? For that reason there is no investigative reporting in the world of scooters or for that matter any follow up from the press on the Carter/Lance/Sym bikes and what the future holds. Dealers are in the dark much like the people waiting on parts.

I find myself being the only guy that ever gets mad at dealers or importers for these types of shenannigans because its really easy for a company like SUN L to change states or change names and say goodbye to everyone. Nobody is ever held accountable.

Just got an email from Lance telling me they have some of the left over SYM units up for sale. I think they look great except they are old models already since last time I checked its 2011 and some companies already have 2012 VINs arriving. So unless your paying nothing for them it doesn't help the dealer that is stuck with a bunch of 2008 Genuines and 2008 SYMs.

2009) HD200                     blue, silver  

(2009) Citicom                    black, red

(2010) Symba                      blue/white, red/white, black/white

(2010) Fiddle 11                  sea mist green, artic white, ruby red     

I have to admit I ask hard questions that are not easy to accept. 

The question is when do they get parts? How much money is being invested in the parts department? What about dealers owed $ by SYM etc..... What is the factory doing to make up for loss of labor?

 

Lots of questions here besides simple unit movement. 

All anyone cares about is selling, nobody talks about the secondary considerations which can add up to be more costly than the primary goal of unit turnover. 

 

Yes, sales help and you don't have to pay in/out fees, storage, the value of the investment, but your long term returns for a brand are zero if you fail at the parts and warranty which to my knowledge is what has happened to SYM as a brand in itself in the United States. Being I was the first guy to import them, I am the first to tell people go with Kymco USA before ever touching something without any real support.

My message to everyone at SYM is that this isn't Asia. Take a clue from Kymco USA on how to do things the right way and learn something. You don't abandon a couple of thousand consumers, force them to get their warranties from Canada, not pay labor and then expect gullible dealers to suck up the brand  leftovers....

 

Then again many dealers that didn't buy SYM and haven't had a bad experience will buy into it being that gas prices are at $4. So yes you have a whole new batch of people that don't care if you have parts, won't visit your warehouse to do a spot check, and don't check to see if you pay fair labor on the units since many of them sell Chinese scooters and dont get labor anyways. See my previous blog entry as to why multiple distributors for the same factory never works in a market like the US.