| Chaps if I may:
Scotty B:
No not related to Shazaam (apart from owning a Ducati) but I do take my hat off to him and his technical posts - a domain that I do not occupy. I can check the basics and polish the ST4s, but that's as far as it goes - the rest I leave to and pay the experts.
Desmo 748
Making more money out of merchandising is what every brand owner in world wishes they could do but few in the motorcycle world do - an exception is Harley. Many in the US aspire to own a HD but know they never will, so they settle for a duvet cover instead; outside of the US this strong sense of "belonging" dwindles down to vitually no merchandising sales in some countries beyond what you can fit onto your riding clothes - duvet covers don't get a look-in. From small beginnings Triumph have turned merchandising into a profit centre, but it lags way behind new sales and parts n accessories.
Brogins
Triumph are also a small European manufacturer facing huge diversified Sino industrial conglomorates, and remember that Triumph started from a worse position than Ducati has ever found themselves in. It was a dead with no manufacturing facilities and a brand image that was 98% negative. From that postion Mr Bloor built a new company funded with not one penny of anybody else's money, launched year on year new products and entered new markets globally, which in some cases exceed Ducati's current market share (and will probaly overhaul them if current progress is maintained). So what we see is proof that European manufacturing and Brands can and do succeed and profit.
Furthermore, they do so not on I quote "customer service that eventually works", but by delivering through a well trained and managed Dealer Network. (Yes it does go wrong sometimes, but no one, not even the Japanese are perfect).
Rob B
Confused - in a manner of speaking you've hit the nail squarely on the head. Confusion is something a manufacturer of any product simply cannot allow to creep in to the minds of the buying public. A confused audience is on that walks away and buys elsewhere.
[Edited on 14-12-2005 by Athelstan]  |