Continued...
So, you’re not just buying the “Ciao factor”?
Kevin Andrews: No, not at all. We’ve got a strong, rich heritage and that’s certainly a part of it, but compared to [competitors] we blow them away. Fit, finish, style, quality of components, durability, long term quality, I’ll put ours against anyone. What I’ll tell you too, this year at IMS there’s going to be a scooter pavilion at the IMS shows, and I’m not sure what of our competition is going to be there, I can guess, but we’re going to have our product on display and the things we’ll be drawing on are why Vespa has such a rich heritage and that story that we have out there, but also the technology we bring to the table and the quality of our components we’ll be touting very strongly.
You’re based in New York, I see a lot of Vespas when I’m there!
Kevin Andrews: It’s a quick way of getting around the city, it really is. It’s a fun way to see the city, and there’s no better way to cut through traffic. Most people here park where they want. It’s an added convenience; get where you want to go and park where you want. It’s a great deal.
My only really iffy thing about the Vespa is the size of its wheels. I feel like I’d want bigger wheels for stability. Is that a direction you guys are considering for the future?
Kevin Andrews: Nothing I’ve ever been alerted to. Two things: we always want to advance the product, but at the same time we also want to hold true to the design. We’ve got 12 inch wheels on the larger Vespas, and I don’t know that we’ll go beyond that. At least it’s not in the plans for next year. On our Piaggio side of the scooters and certainly on the Aprilias, we’ve got larger size wheels. But Vespas have always been that traditional, classic authentic scooter which has smaller wheels.
We brought a monocoque frame to a dealer meeting, just a steel frame with nothing on it. Bare bones, a shell. This is our greatest closing tool. Because a lot of times, even when I’m at IMS or somewhere demonstrating the product to somebody, you tell them that it’s a metal unibody, and they go, “Really?” and it is. But parts of it have a plastic shell, there’s that front storage compartment, that type of thing. But when you take the seat out and the bucket out you can see that’s a steel frame. When you have it staring at you in the face, it’s so blatantly obvious the quality that’s there. But again, it’s a huge advantage we have. The other thing I’ll tell you is that our competition is lower priced than us because they have to be. Why else would you buy it?
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