Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > Another bike dealer gone bust !

[chicken]

Originally posted by dickieducati

just so you know interest rates have peaked and the next move will be down.

depends if you are a glass-is-half-full or empty kind of guy.

[electricsheep]

Originally posted by dickieducati

just so you know interest rates have peaked and the next move will be down.

But only until after the election

[dickieducati]

nothing to do with the political parties now luckily.

and they will still go down next. i see what you mean from the chart but its a very different picture now.

financial futures are predicting rates to be stable or lower from now until june '07.

[Rattler]

Originally posted by Jools
You don't have to look far to understand why dealers are going bust.

Whether it's Carnell's and their spin-offs using a similar business model and selling bikes to the masses on the cheap or other complex social factors, motorcycling is not much to do with the automotive industry these days. Hands up, who owns a bike as essential transport, a cheap alternative to a car? Not many people I'll bet, because it ain't a cheap alternative. I'll bet you that even a commuter bike is nearly as expensive to run as a small runabout, especially when you take the higher insurance a bike usually attracts and the fact that the bike will rot away after a few winters.

So what's motorcycling become? It's more akin to the leisure industry. People are much more likely these days to buy a bike as a toy. That's why sportsbike sales dominate in this country and it's why people are so fickle that they rush out to buy this years model based on what MCN says is the best bike this year and sod the depreciation. You don't do that if you're looking at it as transport, you want a bike that you can ride in all weathers and run it hard until it's earned it's keep. So the typical motorcycle is a great big, very shiny and very expensive toy, a luxury item that all but committed motorcyclists can do without if they have to (I bet we all know someone who's gone out, bought a bike and jacked it in as soon as the novelty has worn off).

So how do people fund these expensive shiny toys? Mostly, it's fuelled by credit (let's face it, only Lord Rattler and the like can pull several thousand pounds out of their back pocket and say "I'll have that one" ). And the cheapest form of credit? Yup, remortgaging! All very well until the interest rate creeps up, the housing market cools down and people realise that they've already milked as much of their housing equity as they're comfortable with. People are pulling in their horns, tightening their belts and just not splashing out on big ticket items as they've done steadily over the past six or seven years of mortgage nirvana.

So under these circumstances the opportunities that opened up when the mortgage boom came are now closing up again, and all the businesses that climbed onto the bandwagon in the good times are now finding that there's not enough room for them all. Only the fittest are going to survive. It's always been that way.

Keeping fit in business means that you have to be agile enough to understand what your customers want and give it them, so the smart money goes to the people that understand their customers in the first place. Really understanding what your customers want means that you have some sort of relationship with them and value them as a person. Ask yourself whether you've ever done business again with someone that treated you as if they didn't care.

Its a bit deep for a Weds eve, but I reckon you're spot on Jools - apart from the slight upon my good person!!!

Tim

[Rattler]

depends if you are a glass-is-half-full or empty kind of guy.

I'm a "glass is twice as big as it needs to be" type person!!!

[Edited on 22-12-2004 by Rattler]

[electricsheep]

who needs glasses, just give me the bottle

[Edited on 22-12-2004 by electricsheep]

[DC]

Originally posted by Jools
You don't have to look far to understand why dealers are going bust.

Whether it's Carnell's and their spin-offs using a similar business model and selling bikes to the masses on the cheap or other complex social factors, motorcycling is not much to do with the automotive industry these days. Hands up, who owns a bike as essential transport, a cheap alternative to a car? Not many people I'll bet, because it ain't a cheap alternative. I'll bet you that even a commuter bike is nearly as expensive to run as a small runabout, especially when you take the higher insurance a bike usually attracts and the fact that the bike will rot away after a few winters.

So what's motorcycling become? It's more akin to the leisure industry. People are much more likely these days to buy a bike as a toy. That's why sportsbike sales dominate in this country and it's why people are so fickle that they rush out to buy this years model based on what MCN says is the best bike this year and sod the depreciation. You don't do that if you're looking at it as transport, you want a bike that you can ride in all weathers and run it hard until it's earned it's keep. So the typical motorcycle is a great big, very shiny and very expensive toy, a luxury item that all but committed motorcyclists can do without if they have to (I bet we all know someone who's gone out, bought a bike and jacked it in as soon as the novelty has worn off).

So how do people fund these expensive shiny toys? Mostly, it's fuelled by credit (let's face it, only Lord Rattler and the like can pull several thousand pounds out of their back pocket and say "I'll have that one" ). And the cheapest form of credit? Yup, remortgaging! All very well until the interest rate creeps up, the housing market cools down and people realise that they've already milked as much of their housing equity as they're comfortable with. People are pulling in their horns, tightening their belts and just not splashing out on big ticket items as they've done steadily over the past six or seven years of mortgage nirvana.

So under these circumstances the opportunities that opened up when the mortgage boom came are now closing up again, and all the businesses that climbed onto the bandwagon in the good times are now finding that there's not enough room for them all. Only the fittest are going to survive. It's always been that way.

Keeping fit in business means that you have to be agile enough to understand what your customers want and give it them, so the smart money goes to the people that understand their customers in the first place. Really understanding what your customers want means that you have some sort of relationship with them and value them as a person. Ask yourself whether you've ever done business again with someone that treated you as if they didn't care.

Well put that man.

DC

[andyb]

Im a bit dissapointed that Rattler needs glasses, but i dream of being in the same camp as him.. oh hang on a minute, did i say camp??

Its a message board!!

[Rattler]

...as a row of tents??????

[psychlist]

Originally posted by Rattler
...as a row of tents??????

At least you dont need a key for a tent :P