Another dealer bites the dust

[Warren Rhen]

I'm old. Been around a while and this is like a broken record. Another Piaggio/Moto Guzzi/ Aprilia dealer packs up the bikes, the tools etc and says Arrivederci to a company that is seems will never learn how to treat dealers and/or the customers. Over the years I've known people that were truly passionate about Guzzi's, start a dealership only to later throw up their hands in disgust and say NO Maas. This time RideNow AZ. It's really a shame they can't hire somebody from, say Ducati to teach them how it's done 

[roadscum]

Same old Shit. Buy the way, how's the  local Citroen treating ya? 

Paul

[JJ]

"Moto Guzzi...Going out of business since 1921..." 

[Guzzi Gal]

Yup, they nixed Piaggio several months ago.  Luckily they weren't my dealer or service provider, but it still sucks.  Rumor has it that Go AZ might pick up Guzzi as they sell Vespas.  Time will tell.

[Turin]

They currently don't make anything that floats my boat so I give that a fat whatever. as for service and repairs, there are better options in the east valley.

[JACoH]

I thought I heard that they DID hire some marketing guy from Ducati last year.

[Mike Harper]

They did hire a guy from Ducati awhile back. An absolute disaster. Arrogant, rude and would never return a call or email.

He lasted less than a year.   

[Tusayan]

The really sad part to me is that prior to Aprilia's take over, followed by Piaggio's take over of Aprilia, Moto America (the then importer, based in North Carolina) had by far the best reputation in the US motorcycle industry for good customer service.   In contrast, when dealing with Piaggio you have a company that is deeply entrenched in bad behavior and has a deep arrogance based on their long established cash cow of the European scooter market.  That situation has bred decadence and infighting among people who had nothing to do with creating the cash cow.  Its a situation much the same as the US auto manufacturers in the 1970s, and I have no expectation that Piaggio's negative culture will ever end.   

[Sheepdog]

The good thing about all of this is we have great online Guzzi parts vendors and our bikes are a piece of cake to work on. Still, I wish I didn't have to go three to six hours just to see two or three Guzzi leftovers at my nearest dealers...

[Ncdan]

Ive only been in the guzzi family since 07 and on my third guzzi, why, because I’ve fallen in love with these mechines and I’ve had most all major brands over 50 years of ridding. T I think the bottom line is simply this. The only reason this company is staying in business is because there are just enough loyal guzzi riders world wide willing to deal with crappy factory backing and at times gross factory negligence on the assembly line, along with at times cheesy made parts, who are willing to put up with all this and still buy and ride another one. I would also wager another reason they stay in business is that it’s sites like this one and some of the knowledgeable guys here that are willing to give of their time and hand on experience to help the rest of us fix the inherent weaknesses of our beloved Moto Guzzi motorbikes. IMHO:)

[John Ulrich]

Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the US and the closest dealers are 2 hours north or 2 hours south.  Pretty sad reflection on USA corporate.

[bad Chad]

I was told by someone in the know that piggio, at least in NA, is full of rejects from Triumph, KTM, Duc ect.   
If they were cast off from another mfg, Piaggio will put them on the payroll!

[Matteo]

Ive only been in the guzzi family since 07 and on my third guzzi, why, because I�ve fallen in love with these mechines and I�ve had most all major brands over 50 years of ridding. T I think the bottom line is simply this. The only reason this company is staying in business is because there are just enough loyal guzzi riders world wide willing to deal with crappy factory backing and at times gross factory negligence on the assembly line, along with at times cheesy made parts, who are willing to put up with all this and still buy and ride another one. I would also wager another reason they stay in business is that it�s sites like this one and some of the knowledgeable guys here that are willing to give of their time and hand on experience to help the rest of us fix the inherent weaknesses of our beloved Moto Guzzi motorbikes. IMHO:)

I concur, I guess a good topic would be what makes you stay?

[Travlr]

Ride Now also dropped Triumph.  They retained Ducati and BMW.

This has little to do with Piaggio or Moto Guzzi.  Moto Guzzi does not fit at Ride Now.  Most euro brands do not fit at Ride Now.  Ride Now is a huge chain owned by an auto dealer.  Think of Auto Nation for power sports.  They have adopted the auto dealer business model.  Huge dealerships and a sales minimum per square foot.  If you don't meet the minimum sales per square foot you are out the door.  Even motorcycles do not fit the minimums.  The motorcycle section of the store continues to shrink.  While the 4x4 and jet ski section continues to grow.  The criteria is sales per square foot.  The Japanese manufacturers have the 4x4's and jet ski's to meet sales minimums.  The Euro manufacturers do not.

I had a long conversation with a euro dealer this spring.  The motorcycle market is evolving in to 2 dealer models.  The huge warehouse operations and the smaller specialty retailers.  Guzzi needs to skip the warehouse guys and focus on the specialty market.

M

[elvisboy77]

Ride Now also dropped Triumph.  They retained Ducati and BMW.

This has little to do with Piaggio or Moto Guzzi.  Moto Guzzi does not fit at Ride Now.  Most euro brands do not fit at Ride Now.  Ride Now is a huge chain owned by an auto dealer.  Think of Auto Nation for power sports.  They have adopted the auto dealer business model.  Huge dealerships and a sales minimum per square foot.  If you don't meet the minimum sales per square foot you are out the door.  Even motorcycles do not fit the minimums.  The motorcycle section of the store continues to shrink.  While the 4x4 and jet ski section continues to grow.  The criteria is sales per square foot.  The Japanese manufacturers have the 4x4's and jet ski's to meet sales minimums.  The Euro manufacturers do not.

I had a long conversation with a euro dealer this spring.  The motorcycle market is evolving in to 2 dealer models.  The huge warehouse operations and the smaller specialty retailers.  Guzzi needs to skip the warehouse guys and focus on the specialty market.

M

Well said.  Everyone who thinks they should market like Harley should go buy a Harley.  I like my Guzzis and accept that there is not a dealer on every corner, nor is the "corporation" very "Corporate" whatever that means.

[John Ulrich]

One ex-dealer mentioned to me, corporates policy of putting cycles taken back from failed dealers on Cycle trader at prices way below their cost, took sales away from him.

[pete roper]

Over here I probably carry more relevant stock for current models than the importer and if I don’t I can probably get it in quicker and cheaper than the official importer.

Make of that what you will.

[twowheeladdict]

Well said.  Everyone who thinks they should market like Harley should go buy a Harley.  I like my Guzzis and accept that there is not a dealer on every corner, nor is the "corporation" very "Corporate" whatever that means.

Not sure what you are implying.  If you are talking about marketing the "lifestyle", it has certainly worked for Ducati with their scrambler line. 

As a motorcycle tourer who had to have my Kawasaki worked on at a Honda dealer while on the road, I appreciate the fact that there are Harley dealers in more locations in case I need them.  They also give priority to travelers. 

I was fortunate that Kawasaki reimbursed me for the repair since there wasn't a Kawasaki dealer within reasonable towing distance to repair the bike.  I have had to go 200 miles out of my way to replace a tire while on my Concours 1400 while on a trip.  I was near Green Bay but had to go Lacrosse to get a proper tire.  Every Harley dealer stocks tires for the bikes they sell.  I have toured on Harley since 2016. 

[guzzisteve]

I say buy old bikes and let them all fold. Maybe, just maybe Piaggio will get the message that they ran out of dealers that'll put up w/crap.
Yes, I'm the problem, I don't need them or bikes w/gadget problems

[ITSec]

I have noted previously in other threads the observations I have about RideNow as a company, their business practices, and their way of treating both staff and customers.

When RideNow bought the Las Vegas dealer that had Aprilia and Moto Guzzi, they professed their undying love of the Piaggio bikes (I know, I was a salesman there at the time). In less than 60 days, they rolled the bikes into the back and took down the signs - and didn't even send notice to Piaggio USA. Tell me this wasn't a planned strategy.

When this happened, I spoke with various industry people including the Piaggio rep of the time for this area. I said the severed relationship with Piaggio in Arizona was a matter of when, not if - and he agreed. I wonder if RideNow gave the contractually required notice this time?

There's no doubt Piaggio bears a great deal of blame for its lack of dealer support and its dealer-unfriendly practices. In this case, I'd be more likely to say it's on the dealer. History leaves that an open question.

[jbell]

When RideNow bought the Las Vegas dealer that had Aprilia and Moto Guzzi, they professed their undying love of the Piaggio bikes (I know, I was a salesman there at the time). In less than 60 days, they rolled the bikes into the back and took down the signs - and didn't even send notice to Piaggio USA. Tell me this wasn't a planned strategy.

I've been through change of ownership/management at a couple of companies over the years.  When they tell you, "nothing's going to change" or "we just want to tweak a few things" that's code for, everything's going to change and we don't want you to all quit till we get our lackies in here and then we can fire you.

[DaSwami]

Funny, the Moto Guzzi dealer in Jax said they dropped Ducati because they were way worse than Piaggio, I can't even imagine!