| Bike sales were on the slide here in 2005 and I understand that the trade has had a tough time. Triumph's prices are pretty competitive atm and the new 675 is cheaper than most of the 600's, Suzuki excepted which is a fair bit cheaper again. I think the lower prices helps.
Ducati suffer from high prices and (I suspect) the lack of popularity (as has been said elsewhere here before) of the current superbikes when compared to the 748/916 series. High prices were fine in the mid-90's when they offered something different and were head & shoulders above the competition in terms of performance - now they aren't.
I am not convinced the WSB performance has anything to do with a slide in Ducati sales. They've lost me as a customer for the superbikes as they just don't attract me aesthetically at all and they offer no tangible riding experience/benefit over the older 4vlv bikes which, are biking icons. I've also come to appreciate the good simplicity of the 2vlv bikes.
The Monsters are getting more and more complicated and expensive - as they've always been the bread winners for Ducati I'm not so sure that this strategy is wise. With the exception of the 4vlv versions there hasn't been much development with the Monsters and people seem to see them as a bit out of date these days. My own opinion is that the Monsters are none the worse for being old design-wise as they are still very good road bikes that offer most of what people need....but then I'm probably not very representative in this fashion-conscious biking age.  |