Bomota And the Usa
BOMOTA AND THE USA
THE ART OF SELLING $40,000 MOTORCYCLES
MUCH HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT the sorry state of the United States motorcycle market. For the last two years it's sold 266,000 new bikes per year, down from a 1973 high of 1.5 million units.
The size of recent sales figures may alarm the brass at Japanese motorcycle companies. But at Bimota, which hand-builds just 650 bikes per year in its Rimini, Italy, factory, the sales potential in a market as large and as rich as the United States looks pretty good, according to Aurelio Lolli, Biinota's sales-and-marketing director. Of the U.S.'s soft economy, Lolli says, "It may be slow, but it's still stronger than many other Western economies." And that's why, he continues, Bimota is working hard to upgrade its U.S. parts and service through its American importer, the Roscetti Corp. (105 W. Somerdale Road, Somerdale, NJ 08083; 609/346-2111.)
Lolli admits this has not been easy. "Riccardo Roscetti has been very enthusiastic. He's working not only with his brain, but with his heart. His disadvantage is that he is new at this. He doesn't have a lot of experience in managing a distribu torship, and as a result, he some times is not 100 percent prepared."
"American riders are smart enough to tell a good bike from a bad one."
Still, Lolli adds, Bimota is commit ted to the Roscetti arrangement, and is committed to becoming viable here in the U.S. That has happened more slowly than at first expected, he says, because most of 1991 was required to get the bikes through federal testing. But now that process is complete, and with the first com plete shipment of Diecis-Bimota' s primary U.S. model-in the U.S. and with pre-sold shipments of Tesis about to arrive, he says things look bright enough to be fairly certain that all 140 1992 Bimotas designat ed for these shores will be sold.
"Look," Lolli offers, "Roscetti has just hired a commercial manager to take care of the dealers. We think that's another sign of his willingness to grow and learn. Our brand is not well-known in the U.S., so we're starting from-well, maybe not quite zero," he says. But riders here, Lolli says, "are smart enough to tell a good bike from a bad one."
Also, Lolli believes that l3imotas, especially the Tesi, offer something many other motorcycles lack. He says, "To differentiate your product, you need something else besides performance. You need your own character and personality. This is why we believe in the Tesi. It is very much our own motorcycle."
How will Bimota overcome its reputation as a purveyor of over priced boutique motorcycles? Lolli laughs. and says, "At 91 million lira, (about $73,500) the Honda NR750 is much more expensive than a Tesi 1 D. So what was the most expensive is no longer the most expensive." Adds Pier Paolo Catani, Bimota's press-relations officer, "Bikes like the NR make our product seem more affordable. We're glad for the competition."
Jon F. Thompson
