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| Rogerborg |
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 Rogerborg nimbA

Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :    
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 Posted: 00:22 - 08 Mar 2014 Post subject: February 2014 new registration statistics |
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Aaaaand they're down again.
Not by much, and I understand that it was a touch damp, but sales were down.
Litre-plus adventure sports and cruisers were up. Geezer economics.
Does anyone remember a marque called... what was it - some weird Chinese name? Shushuko? Suzunka? ____________________ Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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| Ribenapigeon |
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 Ribenapigeon Super Spammer

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| DrSnoosnoo |
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 DrSnoosnoo World Chat Champion

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| panrider_uk |
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 panrider_uk World Chat Champion

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| DrSnoosnoo |
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 DrSnoosnoo World Chat Champion

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| panrider_uk |
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 panrider_uk World Chat Champion

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| TheSmiler |
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 TheSmiler World Chat Champion

Joined: 14 Apr 2011 Karma :    
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 Posted: 14:23 - 11 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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Random question but what would other be under mopeds. You have scooters all ready.  ____________________ CB125>CG125>GN125>ER5>K100RS>R1100RS>K100RS
A2 completed 23/07/15 Ready for the Golden Crisp Packet |
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| G |
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 G The Voice of Reason
Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :     
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| Rogerborg |
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 Rogerborg nimbA

Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :    
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 Posted: 17:48 - 11 Mar 2014 Post subject: Re: February 2014 new registration statistics |
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| G wrote: | | Rogerborg wrote: |
Does anyone remember a marque called... what was it - some weird Chinese name? Shushuko? Suzunka? |
They are the ones that made the prototypes for other companies I think - first models of the S1000RR, ER6/MT07. |
I believe they stole the idea for the BMW GS as well, then got in their time machine and made it in the past.
https://www.globalsuzuki.com/motorcycle/history/products/img/1990_DR-BIG_l.jpg
Good to see that their blatant theft hasn't gone unpunished.
"Restructured" by the end of the year, I still reckon. Watch for a massive fire sale (even by Suzunka standards) or a big push on some kind of vouchers or servicing plans or other "give us money now, get value back later" deals preceding it.
[UPDATE]
Shushuko Servicing plan.  ____________________ Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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| cretin box |
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 cretin box Nova Slayer

Joined: 29 May 2013 Karma :     
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 G The Voice of Reason
Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :     
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| Rogerborg |
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 Rogerborg nimbA

Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :    
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 Posted: 11:22 - 13 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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| cretin box wrote: | Please can you precis - by PM if you prefer - what is wrong with Suzuki? |
They have a large dealer network and existing warranties to support, but their sales are circling the drain: they rarely appear in the top 10 any more.
That's it. I have no inside information or particular insight. The bikes are decent enough, they have plenty of happy owners, and if you want one, there's no reason other than the ravings of an anonymous intertard why you shouldn't get one. ____________________ Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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| c-m |
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 c-m World Chat Champion
Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :   
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| Rogerborg |
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 Rogerborg nimbA

Joined: 26 Oct 2010 Karma :    
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 Posted: 19:08 - 13 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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Gixxerzzzz.
Suzuki global are doing OK, and they're hardly likely to vanish from the UK[*]. My expectation is that there will be a 'restructure' though, or a phoenix deal to slough off some debt.
They're gambling big on the V-Strom 1000. It didn't help them in February, let's see what March brings.
[*] Although Suzuki cars did throw in the towel in North America. ____________________ Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike |
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| Shaft |
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 Shaft World Chat Champion

Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Karma :    
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 Posted: 19:45 - 13 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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I'm aware of three reasonably large dealers nearby, that have folded the tent in the last 12 months, 2 of them were long term Suzuki agents.
I wouldn't know where to go to look at a Suzuki now, I can't think of any dealers that are in what I would call striking distance, which is pretty poor considering I live in the UK's largest city. ____________________ Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035 |
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| G |
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 G The Voice of Reason
Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :     
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| Shaft |
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 Shaft World Chat Champion

Joined: 27 Dec 2010 Karma :    
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 Posted: 23:07 - 13 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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I forgot to add, one of the Suzuki dealers that threw in the towel switched to Victory, Indian and Piaggio.
I completely get Piaggio, if you want to shift units and keep your cashflow ticking over, but it's coming to something when Victory/Indian seems like a better bet than Suzuki, for big bike sales. ____________________ Things get better with age; I'm close to being magnificent........
20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
WooHoo, I'm a Man Point Millionaire! https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=234035 |
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| Rogerborg |
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 Rogerborg nimbA

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| arry |
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 arry Super Spammer
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| The Disapproving Brit |
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 The Disapproving Brit World Chat Champion

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| DrSnoosnoo |
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 DrSnoosnoo World Chat Champion

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| slowlydoesit |
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 slowlydoesit Could Be A Chat Bot
Joined: 14 Oct 2012 Karma :   
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 Posted: 23:10 - 16 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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| cretin box wrote: | Please can you precis - by PM if you prefer - what is wrong with Suzuki? |
https://img203.imageshack.us/img203/4706/tpgl.png
There isn't an easy explanation. My initial working hypothesis was that Suzuki was hit disproportionately hard by the financial downturn and as a result had dramatically reduced research and development into new models. The reasoning is simple: Suzuki is a small manufacturer compared to Honda or - on the car side - Toyota, Nissan and Honda. They specialise in small cars and small cars have small profit margins. (Bikes account for 8.9% of revenues last year so are not the main driver of the business.)
When I collated the figures for the chart below I was quite surprised to see that although Suzuki's annual revenues dropped sharply during the financial crisis, their R&D kept right on going. As a percentage of revenues R&D dropped before the financial crisis simply because sales were growing so rapidly. But during the crisis in 2008/2009 R&D didn't decline. It came off by 5% or so in the March 2010 fiscal year and posted another small decrease in March 2011 but has recovered since.
What I suspect happened is that because Suzuki is a major player in emerging (car) markets such as India, they prioritised car development over bike development. The Indian car market - like that of China - held up well during the first couple of years of the crisis, unlike the car markets in the developed world. That probably doesn't mean that Suzuki tried to transplant bike engineers en masse to the car operations, but they probably did convert some engineers who could be reassigned and preferentially allocate other resources - test personnel, QA, design, market research etc - to the car business at the expense of the bike side.
This is all supposition of course, but if bikes suffered at the expense of cars within the company then maybe this is why Suzuki doesn't seem to have anything really fresh in its bike lineup at the moment. Maybe others, such as Honda, carefully avoided skimping on bike R&D. Certainly Honda's response to the crisis seems to have been effective: CBR250R, the 500 series, the NC700 series, the CRF250L - all low-cost models. Kawasaki is more of a big bike specialist but even they managed to spit out the Ninja 300 and now Yamaha seems to hitting its stride nicely with the new MT series. What has Suzuki done? The Inazuma 250? |
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| G |
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 G The Voice of Reason
Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :     
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| ficedula |
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 ficedula Scooby Slapper
Joined: 10 Aug 2011 Karma :  
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 Posted: 23:37 - 16 Mar 2014 Post subject: |
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| slowlydoesit wrote: |
This is all supposition of course, but if bikes suffered at the expense of cars within the company then maybe this is why Suzuki doesn't seem to have anything really fresh in its bike lineup at the moment. Maybe others, such as Honda, carefully avoided skimping on bike R&D. Certainly Honda's response to the crisis seems to have been effective: CBR250R, the 500 series, the NC700 series, the CRF250L - all low-cost models. Kawasaki is more of a big bike specialist but even they managed to spit out the Ninja 300 and now Yamaha seems to hitting its stride nicely with the new MT series. What has Suzuki done? The Inazuma 250? |
That's a very good point; if you're a brand new A2-license holder, with 2 years minimum restriction and some money to buy a bike, it's sure tempting to buy a Ninja 300 or similar - a bike that's inside the A2 restriction and a bit lighter to match. If you go to Suzuki, you're either looking at the Inazuma 250 (half the power you're allowed on A2!) or restricting a bigger bike, with all the hassles that implies (pay to restrict, probably heavier than a naturally A2 compliant bike, if you do sell it, better hope you find a buyer who also wants it restricted...)
Suzuki do seem to be just ignoring the A2 market at the moment. Sure, some (most?) of those will retest onto a full A license at some point - but will they be interested in a Suzuki if they never had a chance to get interested first time around? ____________________ Bike history: YBR125 -> XJ600 |
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| Kari-On |
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 Kari-On Banned
Joined: 05 Mar 2014 Karma :   
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 11 years, 315 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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