The Media Sucks and why 2011 is Awesome!

So I spent 40 mins on the phone since I was on the road with the local news talking about the roller-coaster of the Powersports Industry the last two years.

Gave them figures, talked about the MIC, explained the difference between a scooter and a moped. I even gave her Guido Eberts phone number a link to his chart on the MIC figures ( see below ) it's like all she wanted was her big story and I got misquoted "Local expert from MRP Racing Parts says scooter sales will double in 2011 thanks to $4 gas!" I mean seriously? she didn't mention what I said was important, misquoted the company name, and that's not what I said what I said was "Scooter Sales will rise and it will lead to higher prices and a host of problems such as the fly by night used car anything goes mentality again that we saw in 2007 and 2008. Eventually the glut of scooters at auction houses will evaporate and prices will rise because of shipping costs, the devaluation of the dollar, and the cost of materials as the Chinese raise the value of the Yuan to compensate for the lower dollar. My concern is that the industry is unprepared for a sharp rise in consumer demand in a short period of time since we are all in survival mode because the distributors are gone, cities like Miami have lost half the dealers, and consumers have continued to support online sales from the cheapest supplier at the cheapest quality and the cheapest stores."

Look Vanessa you're cool, but I was trying to relay a message as to why this industry needs a kickstart, why Americans should be happy gas is going up so people stop driving Hummers to get a gallon of milk, and why a city like Miami is unprepared for something like $5 gas since we lost half our dealers in the recession. Not everyone can start a scooter dealership overnight, it's not like selling gift cards or something.

"Local expert from MRP Scooter Parts says scooter sales will double in 2011 thanks to $4 gas!" Oh well that was the last plug for 2010 and it was a good year.

I want to thank everyone who made it possible, the loyal clients, our friends and family. The staff that stayed and put up with the unexpected rollercoaster. The people who showed us loyalty still exists in this world. You meant a lot.

Tomorrow I'll write my final thoughts for 2010 and bring in the new year.



MIC numbers on Guidos Blog
http://blog.guidoebert.com/2010/11/19/us-cycle--atv-sales-down-183-from-jan-sep.aspx

Two-wheeler and ATV sales registrations in the United States for the first nine months of 2010 totaled 555,440 units, down 18.3 percent compared to 679,806 units during the same nine-month period in 2009, says the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC).

Jan.-Sep. 2010

2009 2010 %

Two-Wheeler 435,497 368,752 -15.3

ATV 244,309 186,688 -23.6

TOTAL 679,806 555,440 -18.3

Two-Wheelers

Scooter 26,288 23,432 -10.9

On-Hwy 309,422 265,095 -14.3

Dual 23,174 19,969 -13.8

Off-Hwy 76,613 60,256 -21.4

TOTAL 435,497 368,752 -15.3

Two-wheeler sales in 2009 compared to 2008 fell 40.8 percent to 520,502 units; ATV sales fell 29.3 percent to 321,181 units.

Scooter sales in 2009 fell 59 percent to 31,451 units, On-Hwy fell 41.5 percent 357,691 units, Dual fell 42 percent 26,257 units, and Off-Hwy fell 28.4 percent to 105,103 units.

Figures are based on the MIC Retail Sales Report, which includes sales registrations for Aprilia, Arctic Cat, BMW, Buell, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Husaberg, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Polaris, Suzuki, Triumph, Vespa, Victory and Yamaha.