What is happening to Moto Guzzi / Piaggio ?

[kwn306]

Here in VA we have lost two out of three dealers in the last month and a half. One of the dealers that was lost is a long time dealer with knowledge of the product.

Was surfing at lunch time and went to Speakers web site only to find out he has sent all of his product back to Paiggio.

With the lack of Moto Guzzi dealers as a whole and now dealers sending their inventory back....how is the brand going to survive? Lets add that Piaggio is not attending the motorcycle shows in the US.

Are they on a self distruct mode? Can someone please explain their business plan or lack there of?

 

[bobw]

I share your concerns as we were without a MG shop near here for years. Some loss is to be expected with these hard economic times and I don't know enough about each "newer" shop to guess their situation, but the "Old Guard" faithful going away is more troubling to me. Some postings (wg) indicated they are going to put forth some serious effort to address dealership issues, so who knows? Too many variables to discuss in a forum, but the bottom line is dealerships are where the important stuff happens. They need to be smart in keeping and developing quality dealerships, but also get rid of those that don't want to or can't support the brands (read the 32 page soap operah on wg). I don't think their reps were doing their job well and/or their mission was fucked up for long term success/partnerships up and down the chain. Clock is ticking and every customer lost is going to be even harder to replace these days.

I am grateful to have Moto Nexus as my shop as they have genuine expertise on the floor and in the shop and have a bunch invested in inventory. Give em a call if you can't get support near your home any more, they're good guys and it's a great excuse to come down for some riding. :lol:

 

[GuzziMoto]

There are many sides to that story.
I certainly don't have all the answers. But the simple fact is that when the economy shrinks and people stop spending as much money on "things" some of the stores that sell "things" go out of business. This is a bad thing but it is somewhat unavoidable sometimes. Guzzi is a small time operation and there is probably less of a financial cushion for businesses that deal in them. I am lucky in that I have a dealer two blocks from my house, but I couldn't count the number of times they told me they were going to stop selling Guzzis. They make their bread and butter on Ducatis. In fact I need to call them and see about helping them fix their sign.

 

[oldmanjob]

I am grateful to have Moto Nexus as my shop as they have genuine expertise on the floor and in the shop and have a bunch invested in inventory. Give em a call if you can't get support near your home any more, they're good guys and it's a great excuse to come down for some riding. :lol:

I agree whole heartily here as I have dealt with Justin and Steve before they got involved with Piaggio, Aprillia and Guzzi. It is a little known fact that they have sold more bikes this fall and winter then the rest of the dealers in town. This is a feather in their cap. Can't forget about John, as I first met him over a year ago when news of the V7C came out and was in bugging him about it until one finally came in :woohoo:

 

[john zibell]

Was surfing at lunch time and went to Speakers web site only to find out he has sent all of his product back to Paiggio.

Actually Jason is doing a wise thing. His site http://www.speakers-cycles.com/newbikes.htm states he is still a dealer, but he is containing cost by getting rid of bikes on floor plan. It looks like he will re-stock when economic conditions improve. As for other dealers going out, could be two things, lost too much money with their business model, or they got sick of Piaggio lack of support.

 

[kwn306]

Hard to sell a bike when the customer is not able to sit, kick, feel the product, just saying its hard to be a dealer without product.......but the GE floor planning was probably killing him and he had no choice to survive.

I don't blame him for what he did, but if Piaggio wants to continue to sell bikes in the US they need to change the way they do business in this economy.

 

[BravoBravo]

Does anyone know the status of the Mandello del Lario factory? I seem to recall reading somewhere that Piaggio was planning to reinvest and modernize the facility, but of course there had also been a lot of speculation that they were going to close it and move Moto Guzzi production to another facility. The reason I am asking this now is that an Italian Facebook friend of mine, who is also a Guzzi owner, indicated the factory was closed. I did not think that was accurate, and wondered if anyone can confirm that the factory is indeed still open and producing Guzzis. :?:
Bruce

 

[GTM®]

Does anyone know the status of the Mandello del Lario factory?

Bruce, under separate thread here, it was posted from our Italian friend Ennio that nearly all of the buildings behind those that line the street have been torn down and are amidst a major reconstruction. We were told to keep an eye on Google Earth maps, but I have yet to see any change.

 

[BravoBravo]

Does anyone know the status of the Mandello del Lario factory?

Bruce, under separate thread here, it was posted from our Italian friend that nearly all of the buildings behind those that line the street have been torn down and are amidst a major reconstruction. We were told to keep an eye on Google Earth maps, but I have yet to see any change.

Thanks Todd. I guess we will just have to stand by and see what happens!
Bruce

 

[Trout]

I'm new to this forum but have ridden Guzzis since 1970. Guzzi has never been strong in the USA with dealer support and it seems to have gotten worse over the years. The Guzzi web site is poor and still has Christmas advertising on it instead of hyping new models. Why do they trot out the Clubman and the 940 Scrambler Instinct that has massive appeal for the USA market then not go into production? Our local Guzzi "Dealer" is a scooter store with no real service-warranty-parts departments and two "kids" running it who will talk about their Vespas. Not what I call a cycle shop.
So enuff with the complaints already. The best thing we can all do is support our local shops as much as possible; buy from them instead of on line even if we pay a little more. I'm a solid Guzzi rider and soon will be buying a V7 Cafe instead of the Triumph Thruxton (which a salesman at a Guzzi / Triumph dealer tried to steer me into) even though for the same bucks the Trumpet has a lot more power. It ain't all about speed is it? Happy Riding~Peace/Out

 

[Zapa]

Well, in Spain the new importer Proeuropa is doing an AWFUL job. First they gave dealing rights to their Triumph dealers, but those don't have any idea on how to service Guzzis, nor have the tools for it. Then they decided to take the brand from trusty and knowledgeable dealers with mechanics that have serviced Guzzis for 15 years or more because they had low sales numbers or where small workshops.

I'm still having my bike serviced at the same small workshop 200Km away. Distance is not an obstacle when you need talent and certainly stupid importers taking the brand away from that particular shop doesn't bother me (or him) a single bit.

 

[tripleman]

I have had a Griso for a little over a year and it is probably my favorite bike. The problem with MG is it gets into your system and you just want to continue to own one even with the amazingly poor dealer service. My dealer here in Kansas City has two MG's on the floor and seems to sell them periodically but no one in the shop knows how to service it beyond oil changes. If there is a warranty item, good luck. I don't think it is the dealer to blame as they just have difficulty getting paid in a timely manner. The economy is poor for motorbikes and the strong dealers can withstand this for now. Guzzi needs to have a fresh marketing plan and a top leader to build back the US market before everyone gives up on them. When you buy a Guzzi, you can no longer think locally- you must think nationally about service and parts. My parts come from a dealer in IOWA because he seems to be able to get them and send then without effort and my local dealer just can't figure it out. My service is from a non dealer who has done very well but let's hope nothing super crazy goes south and we need help from MG in the way of technical support or parts.