Zongshen USA passes parts support to MRP

Its official now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9rPAQVgYks

Zongshen USA has told its dealer network to call MRP for the scooter parts. Call us and open a wholesale account today!

$4 gasoline is finally here for 2013

http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/16/news/economy/4-dollar-gas/index.html?iid=Lead

Finally it took way too long this year, but $4 gas is upon us.

Hero Indian Scooters in the USA?

Many people in the Scooter Industry are familiar with Hero. Over the years many Indian companies have purchased older Italjet, Benelli, Malaguti molds and re-assembled them for the Indian market.

This was true of Kinetic, Hero India, and several others.

Last week Hero purchased shares in a former Harley partner Erik Buell.

My honest opinion this is more than likely to lead to Hero scooters coming into the USA and small sub 250cc motorcycles coming into the USA than Buells being sold in India. Why? Because India can't afford Buells.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/with-economy-at-its-slowest-pace-indian-companies-set-sights-on-us-investments-940495.html

Last week, India’s largest motorcycle and scooter maker by sales, Hero MotoCorp bought a 49.2 percent stake in Wisconsin-based Erik Buell Racing LLC, a maker of high-end street motorcycles, for $25 million. The stake purchase in Erik Buell follows a tech alliance with Hero MotoCorp last year.

Pawan Munjal, chief executive of Hero MotoCorp said the partnership with Erik Buell would allow Hero MotoCorp not only to develop new products, but also to sell its motorcycles in the US and Europe. Hero MotoCorp is aiming to export 350,000 vehicles this financial year through March 2014, compared with 161,043 vehicles exported in the previous year.

TK, SN, TECNIGAS, TWO BROTHERS EXHAUSTS ALL ON SALE

Dealers Log In Today for some great offers on all the top names in Exhausts, TK, Naraku, Tecnigas, Yasuni, Two Brothers, Leo Vince and more!

Exhausts in July SALE Starts Now!

Exhausts and More on Sale this week

We are getting ready to do a massive sale on exhausts pipes! Who's ready for Exhausts!

Kymco leads the pack in the US Scooter Market Resurgence with AIME

There hasn't been a lot of news in the US Scooter market the last few months. I think the biggest news is that the year has not seen the surge that we all expected.

Yet Scooters are as popular as ever the moment gas prices go up.

Yet to me a slow news year lead to the new show. AIME. This is the news I think everyone should be looking at because at the start of the year most business owners and brand managers were all looking at each other wondering what is the next guy going to do? I don't want to spend money unless the other guy spends money. I went to Dealer Expo and it was a bust again.

I want to have my own dealer meeting in my warehouse etc... just a lack of overall leadership in the motorcycle business in general. I will personally commend LeoVince for just calling it like it is. The new meeting spot is AIME. I supported it from day one and now its happening.

The biggest news is that KYMCO USA is the first major to be pushing scooters at the AIME Show.
http://www.aimexpousa.com/


Every scooter maker should be there. Yamaha and Suzuki are both there and now Kymco. Only major missing is Piaggio Group and the should be noted. Piaggio is dropping the ball again in favor of an expensive dealer meeting somewhere when really it should be reaching out to the general dealers that are still in business. The sad reality is most US Dealers cannot stay in business selling only Vespa and Aprilia. You need Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean bikes as well.


This show is a great opportunity to talk to the public for three days, talk and train dealers, and help bring back US commerce. From financial companies to accessory companies it will be a whos who in the industry gathering in the Magic Kingdom.

That's why in my humble opinion Piaggio should be embracing AIME. They should be embracing dealers that carry Kymco, SYM, and other brands along with Piaggio so that they stay open.

At the show Ice Bear, Kymco, Adly, Yamaha, Suzuki will all be side by side with a bunch of more brands, so it makes sense everyone should want to be there.

This year is marked by the fact that there was no growth. A few stories have come and gone mainly only important to industry insiders that have not been mentioned in the trade magazines:

*Adly Taiwan changed importers fourth time in a dozen years

*Several major dealers have changed hands

*I just confirmed the Big Box retailers finally removed all the 49cc scooters from their stores here in Florida.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGPFnZJCv4c


*One Big Taiwanese Factory is looking at coming back to the USA, they might even be at AIME.

*Another Chinese importer recently discovered you can't have multiple dealers in the same area without getting sued and loosing money ( could have avoided this by looking at the dealer laws)

*A major distributor pushed out the former owner/founder thanks to a group of VCs who saved the company a few years back

All these things will affect stores, dealers, distributors in the small scooter industry. The fact is there are new brands. Many of them are PRICE POINT Chinese brands. They have no branding, marketing, and basically sell on price, but they are out there. A show is a place to get educated about them because like everyone we make our living selling parts for them and unless we gather and know whats happening then we don't have a place to talk about what has really happened in the US Industry.

So the Show is a necessity. I commend those who are showing leadership. Yes, it has been a rollercoaster the last couple of years, everyone wants everything for free, and nobody is willing to risk anything to build a better tomorrow, but so what. There will always be companies and people like that.

The time is now to get together and discuss as a group how we can make Lemonade out of a few Lemons. Dealer Expo has not produced any results the last few years so lets make it happen in Orlando.

A big thanks to Kymco for leading the pack this year!

Smart getting Smart about EV Scooters

The EV game might have changed, the moment a big name brand gets involved with national distribution it could really push EV units in America.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-07/smart-shrinks-to-scooter-in-last-chance-for-daimler-brand.html

Interesting quote from the article "The electric-powered bike, a partnership with MIFA Mitteldeutsche Fahrradwerke AG (FW1), features a 250-watt electric motor attached to the rear wheel, a lithium-ion battery pack and a carbon-fiber belt instead of a chain for pedal power. Daimler says it’s pleased with sales of the bike, though declines to give figures."

What does that mean? really in Europe I can look up registrations, but its a process for each country and is it really worth it? 

Would be interesting if they show up at the AIME Expo this year.

This bag started it all

I recently found my PS1 bag. This bag started it all.

I still have the dreamcast and ps1 but the bag was the golden ticket. When people saw Brian, Justin, or I walking in they knew we had games. They knew there would be free beer and free games.

Its when I realized I loved marketing. It wasnt the music industry, that got old pretty quickly staying up until 4am, trading road stories with 45 year olds who still traveled the country with younger bands. It was video games. It was this bag.

This bag got you in with the video  game crowd, the hardcore gamers who wouldnt talk to you unless you knew about the hidden site. It got free pizza, free movies, and it made you everyones friend at the football games. I hadnt seen it in ten years.

Its similar to the pride I hear when someone tells me they worked for Ducati or Yamaha. It was ny first chance to be part of building a brand.

The scooter industry is a lesson in how quickly brands fade or shine. How price points and China volume economics can kill established brands, the same happened in the video game business. Many developers faded away over the years.

But I still have the bag, like an old moped in the collection. It says this was a real brand and still is. This was building a brand.

AIME Where are the Electric Vehicle Companies?

One of the things that was a huge disappointment at Dealer Expo in 2012 and 2013 was the lack of the Electric Vehicle testing area. This was a highlight @ INTERMOT last year.

So my question is Where are the Electric Vehicle Companies?

For electric vehicles to truly take off in the USA we need consumers to compare them side by side. We need dealers to get educated even if they don't carry the lines.

AIME Presents a huge opportunity for this segment. Now I know many EV managers import an electric scooter, but then despise being bundled up with the scooter companies, but the truth is if it looks like a scooter  a motorcycle this is going to be your segment. You can't expect a car dealer or a Golf Cart store to build a global brand. No stand alone Electric company can sustain their own flagship stores (VESPA BOUTIQUES FAIL 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES)

So the truth is this even presents a huge opportunity. http://aimexpousa.com/AIME/AIMExpo.aspx




Brammo’s recent recall announcement, that it had output of five (5) units in a one month period was not that impressive to me. I know there are several EVOLVE EV Scooters out there and some of the dealers are having some success, but this is Florida which is 1/4 of the USA sales of scooters, it will likely be one of the few states where you can ride an ELECTRIC VEHICLE ALL YEAR. So why are the companies spending thousands on magazines but not direct consumer testing?

Be it ZERO, NEW VECTRIX, Evolve, Emerge, Brammo, EV Scooters, any of the Chinese importers this show is the place to stand out from the pack. Give consumers a chance to test the vehicles, for dealers to ride them, and interact with the buying public.

It is the only industry event that has consumers and dealers willing to listen and learn. At the same time it will allow us to test them first hand. It will convince some of us that aren't sold on EV scooters or have found disappointment in the market. What better place to turn around this segment than in the Magic Kingdom of Orlando?

So let's see which EV company steps up and is the first to display at the show?

AIME Show quickly becoming the Scooter Meeting the Industry Needs

So if you've been reading the news latetly you've seen Suzuki North America signed up for the
AIME show in October. http://aimexpousa.com/



The show is taking place in the only state that is 1/4 of the market and the only year round location. Florida. The only state with nearly 5,000 scooters, trikes, and small mopeds in rental fleets it is the ideal place for any meeting concerning scooters.

In addition to over 50 companies that sell parts for scooters and accessories from Tucker Rocky, Two Brothers, Arrow, Yoshimura the events Scooter symposium is taking shape with the following OEMs confirmed:

Confirmed Scooter OEMs displaying scooters at the show:

Yamaha Scooters (JAPAN)

Suzuki Scooters (JAPAN)

Adly Moto Her Chee (Taiwan) / Pit Motors USA Distributor

Ice Bear Scooters and Trikes (China)

American SportWorks (China)

Peace Industries Group (China)

What we lack right now is a real industry leader, more than likely that will be Kymco. I'm hoping Piaggio / Vespa / Aprilia aka Piaggio Group of the Americas will show up, but despite several dealers asking the company to attend I just dont see it. This year at Dealer Expo in Indianapolis they had a little 10 X 10 booth with two scooters in it. So I don't know what to think when it comes to possibly the most important show the industry has seen in years is being neglected by the most well known brand in the USA.

Officially Pending but could announce something in the next few days!

Kymco 

Tao Tao

Genuine

Piaggio Group

Gorilla Motor Works

Puma Motorcycles

Lance / Allaniance SYM

I would encourage dealers to talk to their sales reps about meeting in Orlando this year. Joining the movement to build a better meeting place. 

I would encourage Florida dealers to attend the classes, meet with the speakers, and visit early so they can get the most out of the show. There are a ton of smaller importers not listed that should also consider attending if only so we can have a more standardized industry. Many of the topics in the classes should also concern dealers with recent changes in EPA laws, dealer laws, and warranty laws that many Chinese importers tend to violate such as paying only for parts (NO LABOR) etc... that are in direct conflict with state lemon laws and official distribution guidelines.

So if you're a dealer or a distributor, this show presents the opportunity to bring the industry back. Real meetings, real talk of change to bring back the Powersports Industry. I would encourage everyone and every MIC member to attend.