As if dealers didn't have to contend with Ebay, online competition from distributors selling consumer direct, plus people who work out of their garage at home we have to worry now about Groupon. I know most dealers are finally busy this summer so they don't have time to complain, call the distributor or do anything about it, in many cases like a good prisoner they just shut their mouths and take it from their distributor. They never publicly complain because they get nothing from it to protest a distributor that is doing them wrong. I say we have to put an end to this trend before it takes over as a trend. Once you start discounting all the brands follow.
This discounting method could become horrible trend for the scooter industry. Our margins are already razor thin so this will only lead to more heavy discounting. I know to investors looking to dump product that probably cost them thousands in buybacks, lawsuits, and have been in storage for a year or two might sound highly attractive but this is the type of idea someone not from the scooter industry comes up with.
"Hey, let's sell them on Ebay or let's sell direct from a corporate store," when they realize they can't do this for legal reasons and without upsetting the dealer base the next bright idea is "let's offer a great deal with a coupon and they have to buy at the dealership." It won't work.
Now this would work and be an excellent idea, except that Groupon is making $300 to $400 on every scooter without doing anything. It dilutes the future power of the dealer, and creates a downward spiral for dealers to provide heavy discounts. It means a dealer has to wait to get paid by Groupon ( they might get scammed or not get paid on time plus they end up giving up a sale. ) The scooter rider is different you are not necessarily going to get someone who wasn't going to buy a scooter anyways, 9 out of 10 people who buy a scooter wanted a scooter. This isn't a cheeseburger where they want to try something new, this is a life changing decision or a toy. For the toy buyer you might get one or two, but for the guy riding it everyday do you really want someone expecting $5,000 worth of services for something the dealership only made $300 on?
To attract a new rider, you will have to use Groupon coupons to keep them and this strategy kills any real long-term value for the business and eventually the customer as well. This is basically the same strategy of the Chinese importers have used for years. Let's sell at cost to build a brand. It doesn't work for the brand and it doesn't work for the dealer.
Chinese Dropshippers have sold consumer direct for years. This is a low end way to steal clients. I know parts distributors that work by selling batteries and tires at cost. They sell retail, wholesale, to everyone but in terms of growth the company never makes a profit and has no brand name dealerships. The reason being is that client base isn't a loyal client base. The Typical successful scooter dealer wants a "loyal" client base. People who come into the shop every month to buy oil, belts, accessories. Do you build up that loyalty by deep discounting online? No, you will never be able to build that by selling a cost or below your regular margins.
It's just a further symptom of an industry already saturated with deep Chinese discounts. What we need is detox.
We don't need more Groupon discounts to kill the little margins the dealers have.
This article has little to do with scooter riding and more to do with the situation in our country and it does affect our industry. It has to do with everything especially our servicemen and women that are out there in the front lines. Had I not started a business in 2001, I would have gone back and served. I was in ROTC at one point. I saw myself serving my country full time, if there are jobs that are underpaid and forgotten in this world it's teachers and servicemen. So this just downright upset me.
I read this before starting today and when I look at the numbers of stores that closed the last two years it's just sad. Many of them even lost their homes and I could go on and name some people I truly miss in the industry that I stay in touch with, but some of them have moved on. They have new jobs, but I still remember their stories...Look stores closed, some owners lost their homes, I'm still upset about it. Even today you still read about distributors selling out to new owners so the worst of the economy isn't over yet, but leave the men and women who are out there serving alone. I'm not saying people should get their homes for free, I'm just saying the banking industry is unregulated, judges need to clamp down on them. If you rob a store you go to jail. You pay insane bonuses, get a federal bailout, then falsify documents, nobody calls you out. Own a bank or an oil company and you can do whatever you like in this country. Take someone's business if you want to nobody will stop you.
Still Wachovia/Wells Fargo has a lot to answer for in this case.
"I don’t know about everyone else, but it strikes me as funny that the biggest difference between The Great Depression and today’s depression, is that during the 1930s, people robbed banks. Today, banks rob people."
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/Banks-find-it-easy-to-skirt-federal-laws-protecting-servicemembers-from-foreclosure
Over There… Over There… Send The Word, We’ll Foreclose, While You’re There
Wells Fargo Bank, with their all-American stagecoach logo, has just been accused of violating the Servicemember Civil Relief Act, a federal law that requires members of the armed forces on active duty to be told about civil actions like foreclosure, and allows them to delay the process until they return home to defend themselves against the action… assuming they make it home, of course.
That doesn’t seem too difficult a law to follow, does it? I mean, there couldn’t be that many active duty military personnel in any one state… that are over seas at any one time… that all have the same mortgage servicer… and are all in foreclosure at the same time, right? How many could there be in a single state? A few thousand would seem like a lot, right?
Hard to believe there could even be that many, maybe more like a couple hundred would be at the high end of your guess, wouldn’t you think? The kind of number that by my way of thinking you could keep track of with an index card system, to say nothing of some souped-up-servicer supercomputer.
So, what exactly is the problem here, banker-people? Don’t you have enough homeowners under consideration for a loan modification that you can foreclose on without notice that aren’t active duty military? No one, save a handful of foreclosure defense attorneys and bloggers, would even care if you did it to regular folk… you can deceive and defraud them all you want… just leave our men and women on active duty military alone, okay?
You’re welcome to do it to veterans, for example… they’re not active duty anymore, so what have they done for us lately? Nothing. You can do it to police officers, teachers, firefighters, nurses, single moms who work three jobs and have three kids… you can do it to senior citizens with disabilities, for heaven’s sake… we do not care. But active duty Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard… they’re all off-limits, what’s so hard to remember about that?
After all, it was only a few weeks ago… actually, according to Bloomberg it was May 6, 2011… that JPMorgan Chase, admitting it mishandled mortgages of U.S. service members, paid $56 million to settle the claims.
Isn’t a $56 million settlement paid a couple of weeks ago by one of your brethren enough to get you guys at Wells Fargo to at least make a note not to repeat the same mistake? I only ask because my wife got a parking ticket last week for parking on the wrong side of the street on Wednesdays and the fine was $45 and that was enough to get me to remember not to park there next time. Is $56 million to you guys not even the equivalent of $45 to me… is that the problem?
The settlement provides $27 million in cash which will be split among to 6,000 military personnel involved, and JPMorgan Chase has agreed to return the houses they stole, even if they have to pay fair market value to buy them back from purchasers in cases where the homes were already sold at auction. The bank will also forgive any remaining mortgage debt of the military borrowers who were supposed to be protected under the law… but weren’t… and the bank will reduce the interest rate on all mortgages held by deployed troops to 4 percent for one year.
Regardless, according to ABC Action News, Coast Guardsman Keith Johnson, who had been overseas fighting one of our wars, had just returned home and was greeted by his wife… oh, and also the news that Wells Fargo Bank had foreclosed on, and sold, his home while he was away.
His wife had no idea the bank was working hard behind the scenes to sell their home because they were in the middle of applying for a loan modification. And he had no idea what the bank was planning because… well, because he had been overseas fighting for his country.
Since Keith and his wife had no knowledge of what was happening, no defenses to the foreclosure were filed on their behalf, and Wells Fargo obtained a summary judgment and then auctioned off the Johnson’s home. Must be because Tampa needed another foreclosed home to go back to the bank and then sit vacant for many months or even years.
According to the ABC Action News story…
“Attorney John Odom is a nationally known expert on the act, and says it also protects soldiers against default judgments because, ” Active duty personnel are not free to come and go as they might need to defend themselves,” Odom tells us.
Well, now you see I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but I suppose that’s true. The folks on active duty military are not free to come and go as they might need to defend themselves. Do you see the thinking behind the Servicemember Civil Relief Act now Wells Fargo Bank people? I’ll bet you can find out even more about the law on Wikipedia, if you think that might help you to remember to stop breaking it.
Also from the ABC Action News story, here’s Wells Fargo entire response:
Wells Fargo takes our responsibility to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) very seriously. We work hard to make banking easier for our servicemen and servicewomen — around the world. For example, we have 11 military base locations across the country, allowing our military customers to have convenient access to banking services, including dedicated a website and phone lines.
We did everything we could in this case but there were obligations the homeowner was unable to meet. We followed the service member act by requesting an attorney ad litem, and we were acting on the validity of the court document filed by his court-appointed attorney.
Wells Fargo exhausted all efforts to resolve this matter. We made numerous attempts to resolve the case and facilitate a modification, short sale, refinance or payoff. We do our best to avoid foreclosure whenever possible, however, in some case we are unable to reach a mutually agreeable resolution.
Vickee J. Adams
Vice President, Mortgage Communications
Vickee, Vickee, Vickee… my darling Vickee… I just don’t get the sense that you are embracing the spirit of the law here, because if you were you would know that the entire country knows that Wells Fargo Bank screwed up bad… you violated federal law… you stole someone’s home, and not just anyone’s home, but the home of someone who has been overseas fighting for his country. And when that sort of thing happens, you don’t start blathering on about how you make banking easier with 11 branches on military bases from coast-coast that allow customers to essentially have convenient access to “Almost Free Checking,” and a dedicated Website.
Can you see why yours is an inappropriate response under the circumstances, Vickee dearest? And by the way, you most certainly didn’t do everything you could have to avoid foreclosure in this case, because if you had done EVERYTHING you could have done, you wouldn’t have ended up being in violation of federal law and you wouldn’t have ended up lying to the Johnsons and then stealing their home, can you see the logic there, Vickee?
Because you see, Vickee, my darling, when one does in fact do EVERYTHING one can do… by definition… one doesn’t end up breaking federal laws. If one does discover that one is breaking federal laws, then I think it’s safe to say… and I hate to speak in absolutes here, but… I do think it’s safe to say that you’ve come up short as far as having done EVERYTHING you could do.
And, Vickee… you guys at Well Fargo… or any of your too-big-to-jail compadres, for that matter… this case really has proven that you don’t “do you best to avoid foreclosure whenever possible,” now do you? Because this was not a case of you doing your best and not being able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution, as you claim in your boiler plate statement.
This was a case of you simply not communicating with the homeowner, except to tell them they were under consideration for a loan modification… until you turned around and sold their house without telling them of your plans. And you’re Vice President of Mortgage Communications, Vickee, so it’s ironic that I should have to be tell you this.
According to attorney Odom:
“He (Johnson) is never contacted by anyone about the foreclosure procedures being filed. And he comes home and he has no home. Now that’s wrong. Somebody didn’t do their job, because the law says that shouldn’t not have happened.”
Florida foreclosure defense attorney Matt Weidner is representing the Johnsons, and so I called Matt this afternoon to ask him what was happening. Incredibly, Matt told me that Wells Fargo is pushing back hard.
Wells Fargo is saying that they followed the law by requesting an “attorney ad litem.” The Latin phrase “ad litem” means “for the suit,” and an attorney ad litem is a lawyer generally appointed for an incapacitated person. Matt’s view… and mine too, by the way… is that Wells Fargo could and should have notified the Johnsons.
Me being the “Lay-person Ad Litem,” I asked Matt if the Johnsons have a telephone, and he assured me that they do. So, there’s one way Wells could have gotten in touch with them if they were really interested in preventing foreclosures or in not selling the home of one our soldiers out from under him.
“They (Wells Fargo) say they couldn’t locate Keith Johnson to notify him, but one thing that our military does exceptionally well is locate their soldiers… they know where their soldiers are at all times. For Wells to claim that they were unable to locate Mr. Johnson is just not a credible statement,” Matt said.
Matt also says has filed pleadings with the court including a motion to vacate, saying: “Foreclosure sales without notice are wrong and I expect the judge to agree with that.”
Matt Weidner said that he and his fellow foreclosure defense attorneys in Florida are committed to making sure that no service member faces foreclosure without an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to represent them. Florida has a well developed network of highly skilled attorneys who work together and are dedicated to protecting the rights of all homeowners, but he says that protecting those that are overseas serving in our military today must remain a top priority.
Let me guess banker-people… if Wells Fargo is found to be in violation of the federal law that protects our servicemen and servicewomen, you’re going to claim it to be yet another “isolated incident?” You know like the robo-signing that was an isolated incident, or the inability to produce documentation that shows you as the trustee actually won the note on which you are trying to foreclose in the Ibanez decision… was an isolated incident?
Or, is complying with this federal law going to raise the cost of borrowing for all Americans, not that there is borrowing for most Americans.
I don’t know about everyone else, but it strikes me as funny that the biggest difference between The Great Depression and today’s depression, is that during the 1930s, people robbed banks. Today, banks rob people.
So we get a lot of emails asking us questions like.
I have never seen a TK Exhaust what does it sound like?
My local dealer doesn't have any but he says he can order them etc....
So I collected some videos here to help those guys out that keep emailing us these questions on the TK collection.
RUCKUS ZOOMER WITH TK EXHAUST SPAIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxJ8bwn1EPA
www.TURBOKIT.net has been around for over 40 years, the leading Spanish manufacturer is currently the sponsor for Team Aprilia Spain, Team Kawasaki, and Team Suzuki. They also private label TK for several other brands some people in the USA know like Stage6 among others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpyeIGxVTg
Some examples of their high performance mufflers in action:
TK Exhaust for Maxi Scooter Suzuki 650cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgwcKRXiP2A
Some awesome new items were added over the weekend
KMX-148725
http://www.martinracingdealer.com/SPD/kmx-148725--800043FB-1305488532.jsp
AIR FILTER WITH LED LIGHTS. THE LATEST CRAZE IN SCOOTER PARTS IN EUROPE THIS IS THE NEW TUN'R CONE-SHAPED / CYLINDER-SHAPED AIR FILTERS 00732 DOPPLER (CGN) RIGHT AND BENT FIXATION AT 45? 028-35 148725 459808# AIR FIL CONE-SHAPE 45 BENT SIL 5 RD DIOD 45? Bent Silver 5 Red Diodes OEM No. 459808 148725
Racing Crankshaft. The S1R and E1R benefit from the very latest in connecting rod technology. Full mass, treated steel, INA silver bearing cage, nickel chrome. Cheaper than the machine?s original assembly and superior in quality. This product has become a best seller. 00732 DOPPLER (CGN) 148685 263913# CRANKSHAFT S1R D.10MM VERT.ENGINE Here one of best the quality ratio/market price! The crankshaft DOPPLER ER1 is a reinforced model, balanced and in full masses, it is really intended for the reinforcement of driving bottom and the performance. Steels used are top-of-the-range, they are treated and quite face-hardened, balancing is dynamic and really neat! When one speaks about completion at DOPPLER, one stinginess not! The completion is really perfect for such a price. The rod is posed on a reinforced crank pin and a cage raised well with holds antifriction metal. Aluminium stoppers obviously come to cover the openings of balancing. For more pre compression, the masses are extremely full. The greasings are obviously re-examined and corrected them too. The rod is a model very top-of-the-range good drawn, cast manufacturing process. In short, this crankshaft will resist the majority of the engines very equipped it offers excellent performances and a strength to the height. For the engines the highest modes and most powerful, one will prefer all the same used ENDURANCE but all the same expensive! The size of rod, the race, the diameter of silks remain like the origin. Technicalities: Masses: full Rod: reinforced size origin 80mm Cage: cut raised 10mm Race: origin: 39,20mm Delivered with its cage needle has Assembles itself on: APRILIA AMICO APRILIA SR (before 1993 only) FANTIC BIG WHEEL GARELLI PONY GARELLI SR ITALJET BAZOOKA ITALJET TRACKED ITALJET TO DEFER ITALJET SCOOP ITALJET YANKEE ITALJET ASCOT ITALJET ASTRA LEM FLASH LEM GHIBLI LEM TORNADO LEM TORNADO SS1 KOTIR SR KTM STOPWATCH MBK BOOSTER ROCKET MBK BOOSTER ROCKET NAKED MBK BOOSTER ROCKET ROCKET MBK BOOSTER ROCKET NEXT GENERATION (NG) MBK BOOSTER ROCKET CW MBK BOOSTER ROCKET SPIRIT MBK STUNT MBK TARGET MBK BOOSTER ROCKET TRACK YAMAHA BW' S YAMAHA BW' S NG YAMAHA BW' S ORIGINAL YAMAHA BW' S NAKED YAMAHA CRZ YAMAHA CT YAMAHA SLIDER YAMAHA SPY YAMAHA ZUMA And many other models Crankshaft S1R D.10mm Vert.Engine 148685 Crankshaft, vilo, connecting rod assembly reinforced DOPPLER S 1R center ?10mm for vertical scooter minarelli (booster rocket, bws)
CLUTCH ROLLERS19X15.5 10,0 G. (X6) 19 X 15.5 Performance Roller Weights. Parts for Piaggio, Parts for Vespa Scooter engines. Roller Weight Set 19 x 15.5 mm (6 per set) Roller weights are used for fine tuning your scooter to get the most out of what you need from your scooter. Roller Weights 19X15.5 Applies to the following models: For 08-10 SR50 Ditech Factory (Purejet Engine) GILERA Runner 50cc, 70cc, 125cc, 180cc Gmax PGO Taiwan, Genuine Blur 220i Piaggo Fly 50 LIBERTY 50cc ZIP 2001 Onwards Vespa - Modern ET2 50 LX50 SYM HD200 Vespa LX50 four stroke APRILIA APRILIA SCARABEO 50 4t (PIAGGIO C373M) for ORIGINAL VARIATOR .APRILIA APRILIA MOJITO 50 2t CUSTOM APRILIA SCARABEO 50 2t STREET (PIAGGIO ) APRILIA SR 50 2t LC 2004-carb (PIAGGIO ) APRILIA SR 50 2t LC R-carb (PIAGGIO ) DERBI DERBI ATLANTIS 50 2t BULLET DERBI GP1 50 2t LC NRG 50 2t LC MC3 DD TYPHOON 50 2t 2007 VESPA ET2 50 2t 2000 VESPA LX 50 2t VESPA S (C381M) euro 2 - 50 2t ZIP 50 2t 2000 ZIP 50 2t LC SP 2001
If this is any indication of where the Powersports Industry is headed I keep seeing the real "behind the scenes" of the brands.
The real money is not in the brand itself, but in production.
The most important part of the vehicle is always the engine. The costs, the design, the technology. TGB of Taiwan might be a small name in the USA or globally in terms of units, but check your Piaggio or Vespa and you'll realize that 80% of the CVT systems are made by them.
Even the new BMW C1 has a Kymco designed engine and CVT by TGB both leaders in Taiwanese production. One of the ways Piaggio used to make money was to sell engines to Malaguti, Italjet, and other makers. Lately that tech is licensed or sold in China to other makers or JV partners like Zongshen ZMD. Honda has has a string of success in Asia from former JVs with (Daelim, SYM, Kymco) and by selling / licensing engine tech for years ( most of it is now copied in China for free, but that's another story ) Just reading the news today I saw that the new Husqvarna is buying from Kymco. This is a big deal since Huskys are one of the finest products in the world and most people consider them the best of the best.
Husqvarnas have been assembled in Varese, Italy, since the brand was bought by an Italian cycle maker, Cagiva, which then sold it to BMW Motorrad of Germany. Which has outsourced the engine production to Kymco in Taiwan.
One engine to rule them all, One engine maker to to find them, One engine to bring them all and in these outsourced times bind them. He who controls the engines controls the future just goes to show where the real money in the scooter industry is.
We've been busy adding pictures and new items to all our new parts. Including some new racing parts from top names like Top Racing, Polini, Doppler, TK Exhausts, and more.
Piaggio / Vespa Roller Weights!
A whole new collection of Doppler Roller weights 19 X 15.5
http://www.martinracingdealer.com/SPD/kmx-148647--800043B5-1305476605.jsp
19 X 15.5 ROLLERS in 3.0 GRAMS. KMX-148647 00732 DOPPLER (CGN) 148647 325642# CLUTCH ROLLERS19X15.5 3,0 G. (X6) Parts for Piaggio, Parts for Vespa Scooter engines. Roller Weight Set 19 x 15.5 mm (6 per set) Roller weights are used for fine tuning your scooter to get the most out of what you need from your scooter. Roller Weights 19X15.5 Applies to the following models: For 08-10 SR50 Ditech Factory (Purejet Engine) GILERA Runner 50cc, 70cc, 125cc, 180cc Gmax PGO Taiwan, Genuine Blur 220i Piaggo Fly 50 LIBERTY 50cc ZIP 2001 Onwards Vespa - Modern ET2 50 LX50
NEW WAVE DISKS FOR KYMCO SCOOTERS XCITING 250cc, 300cc, and the 500cc!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w32hd0Vd8M
NEW ROLLERS FOR TGB!
http://www.martinracingdealer.com/SPD/kmx-148638--800043AA-1305474457.jsp17 X 12 in 7.4 GRAMS. 00732 DOPPLER (CGN) 148638 326414# CLUTCH ROLLERS17X12 7,4 G. (X6) CVT Roller Upgrade. PARTS FOR FRANCO MORINI SCOOTER ENGINES. Parts for TGB Scooters, 17 X 12 Roller DOPPLER (CGN) CLUTCH ROLLERS17X12 (X6) FRANCO MORINI ENGINES. Applies to the following models: SR 50 SUZUKI MOTOR 2000 - 2003, Aprilia HABANA 50cc, SR 50 DITEC 2001 - 2003 Derbi ATLANTIS 50cc + LC PREDATOR LC 50cc, Italjet DRAGSTER 50cc, FORMULAR 50cc, Torpedo, others with Suzuki style Franco Morini engines TGB Key West 50 Laser R5 50 Hyosung Sense, Hyosung Prima Scooter, UM Xpeed 50cc United Motors post 2007, Suzuki 50cc.
The Miami Food trucks are taking over. This nationwide trend can benefit you the scooter shop owner. How? Well easy, ask some of the higher end and more interesting local trucks that are taking over Portland, Los Angeles, and Boston to come on by. Seriously, do you know how many people new and interesting foodies are out there?
So instead of slaving over a BBQ, have these guys come and out and bring new people to your shop. Many of them are struggling to find places to park since in many cities like Miami Beach the city doesn't want them around taking business from restaurants, so if you have a private parking lot then work it out with them to stop at your shop every afternoon or weekend. The best case scenario is you get a whole bunch of new people that never in a million years would have thought of Korean BBQ with Mango = Vespa T-Shirt purchase. I'm serious.
Comments? Ideas? Am I crazy or is this a great way to bring people to the shop.
Sure beats advertising on the radio when you can get a Twitter following!
Can I get a –”First off, pop pop!”(Magnitude) on a Food Truck? Scooter Maven
If you haven't seen the TK GP Exhaust in action or the crisp sound it makes on a stock Zoomer Honda Ruckus then this is your chance. Our best selling GP style exhaust is a hit in Europe and Japan. Available in the United States from any MRP dealership.
If you haven't seen the TK GP Exhaust in action or the crisp sound it makes on a stock Zoomer Honda Ruckus then this is your chance. Our best selling GP style exhaust is a hit in Europe and Japan. Available in the United States from any MRP dealership.
There's a lot people coming into the market for all the wrong reasons.
I saw this in 2003, I saw this in 2008, and I'm seeing it again in 2011. Investors come out of nowhere, take up your time and sometimes claim they want to invest in your scooter store, distribution point, or import business and then they don't have the right amount of capital. They want to use someone else to put up the money to make the deal happen. Middle men.
They are calling some of my dealers now. Some want to build a nationwide or statewide alliance of small shops. They have a dream of 10 scooter stores all buying together. The last time I saw this happen the owner actually had money and he made it happen - see my articles on Peter Warrick and the Scooter Super Store of America.
The stores finally ended up getting shut down by General Electric one of its creditors. It was an incredibly Stupid move on the part of the banks since they closed the company in Feb and now in May the business would have made millions. They had over 2,000 scooters in stock and they sold at auction for nothing because a bank couldn't wait. This is the same company that paid no taxes last year in America and forced several hundred scooter dealers to close between 2009-2010.
This year I've had more conversations with banks that just don't get it. Our country is still at the edge and small stores are still hurting, but all they want is the next big deal.
Over the years I've only met one investor who actually had the money and was a man of his word Rick Fine from Atlanta, Georgia. Sadly that was my first experience with the scooter market and as the years have gone by I've discovered you have lean years and good years. So far we are at the end of the two worst years the market has ever seen.
Some store owners are now tempted to sell out to investors. Some of them will promise to keep you onboard as "management." Let me tell you unless you have a good agreement you are probably the first to get fired. They also promise they will pay your debts and take care of your suppliers, most times they don't. When someone pumps in money they want immediate returns and you have to deliver, but you also have other interests and its better to do things slowly and work with the banks and everyone else than to bring someone in that could very well bail on them. Keeping your word on things sometimes is worth more.
The same is true of the vehicle market. Right now brands from Taiwan are shopping around. Export managers write emails fishing for info, going around current importers, and everyone is looking for the big names. This is why "Trust" is such a hard to come by word in the Car and Powersports Industry. Are you in it for the long term or are you going to bail. We live in a world of price not loyalty right now so loyalty goes a long way in bigger circles. You can't sell the short term for the long term goal.
In distributors the market in the US is very small compared to Europe, South America, and Asia. However, the US is the most vocal. I get more blog emails from Argentina, Brazil, and Italy than I do from the USA sometimes.
In the USA last month I mentioned that STR sold its remaining shares to Kymco Taiwan. I already talked about why this made them stronger and a more efficient operation.
Companies that have been loosing money have had to take in private investor groups all across the board. This will provide stability for these brands and ensure that parts and bikes start flowing again maybe not like before, but at least the brands wont close. The problem with outside investors is they are not "Scooter" people and will demand inquiries, audits, and to make sure the company runs lean. I've already commented many times that some of the brightest, best, and most efficient salespeople already work for much much less than they deserve.
I've seen a lot of people fall in love with brands. Some even after no longer working for a brand purely out of passion like in SYM have dedicated many hours to continue to help people. Ex-employees helping with marketing and solving parts issues despite the factory in Taiwan not caring. One of the most passionate people I ever met is Pete McIntosh who worked on SYM projects for months without getting paid. Very few industries command this type of passion or honest good people.
As much as I loved being the original SYM importer, I see it now as a business person not as a naive 20 something year old and I know that you can't love a company that doesn't love you back. Riders, store owners, consumers don't usually see all the drama that unfolds behind the scenes, but these days thanks to social networking all news is news. There is nothing hidden thanks to message boards and the reality TV we live in.
The truth is our industry exploits the best and then others come in and exploit the rest. Passion can be spread from one person to another. I always liked Italjet when I saw them in my first trip to Italy. I loved them when I saw them at the "Ride" 1999-2004 Showroom the first Italjet dealer in the country on South Beach. The store eventually carried Aprilia, Italjet, Malaguti and others. As the company faded it was great to meet new people who were passionate about the brand ( one of the coolest things about Scooter Scoop Steve.) Meeting people who loved a concept or design for new reasons. I've always wondered the potential that someone like that has for branding and what they could have done had Italjet or SYM listened.
I have the greatest admiration for some of these guys working in the field, but our industry is notorious for cutting commissions, not paying employees, and then finding creative ways to not pay benefits. Instead of paying people more the bosses find ways to pay people less. Some of the better known brands find ways to keep employees working for sub-divisions to not pay them like full employees. Amazing, while the owners buy Mansions and new cars the employees struggle. They get pay cuts and false promises.
So outside investment groups have started again approaching dealers, operators, and distributors alike. Be weary when they say they won't give you any cash up front just will take over debts (won't pay them in full just make payments on them) They could take over your dealership. Run it into the ground and then you the operator are still on the hook for the debts. As someone who has imported bikes before I am weary of investment firms looking at scooter brands or electric brands that have no long term vision for the industry. The moment gas prices go down they will pull out of the market. All this could bring further pain down the road when the margins aren't there. Investment recapitalization firms take away the ownership of management, sometimes management is left with nothing just ask Beggio the former owner of Aprilia how much stock in Piaggio he has anymore. They start pushing for profits, take away terms and push the bottom line. As the summer heats up gas prices might make this all a dull point, but the last thing we need is money from people who want to cut and run if gas prices go down.
