Canadian Scooter Corp, the Canadian importer of Italian scooter icons such as Vespa and Piaggio, as well as motorcycle lines from Moto Guzzi and Aprilia has just announced that it will no longer be the distributor for the Piaggio brands.
Instead, the US-based Piaggio Group Americas Inc will be assuming management and distribution of the brand in Canada.
That may not seem to make that much of a dent in their line, until you realize that Piaggio owns Vespa, Moto Guzzi and Aprilia, leaving just Spanish scooter brand Derbi with Canadian Scooter Corp as well as a few store fronts.
According to Paolo Timoni, CEO of Piaggio Group Americas, they are currently preparing new agreements for the Canadian dealerships though they may not carry all of the existing dealers over. In the mean time they have assumed all warranty claims and parts distribution and hope to have the transfer finalized by the end of 2009.
Timoni also said that they were unlikely to have a legal entity in Canada, with Canadian operations happening through the US company (though we were assured that there will be a full press fleet in Canada for media testing).
Until a new customer care system is put in place Piaggio Group Americas asks customers to contact them directly at CanadaCare@piaggiogroupusa.com … oh and they also ask French speaking customers to be patient as French language support is developed and put in place.
If Piaggio USA are ripping off Canadians, why not order your parts from another country? I know there might be tax/duty to pay but it could still work out cheaper. In the UK, Fowlers Motorcycles is the official parts distributor for Piaggio and they ship to consumers worldwide. I’m sure there are distributors in other countries that sell direct to the public and offer international delivery. Just a thought.
And by the way, the Derbi brand is also owned by the Piaggio Group!
emDS, if you are “in the biz” why are you being so cowardly? post your real name and your “successful history in the biz” stand behind your comments then do it like a man. everyone here knows you won’t. In business you have to have a pair to be successful. I actually feel bad for you.
To emDS:
Maybe he thought going into business with a guy who can’t remember how to spell his name wasn’t so “viable”. I’d feel uneasy about a partner like that. But you tell me, are you successful? And don’t just say yes, because anyone on the internet can just say “yes I am successful” Seriously, puff your chest out a tell us. I suspect you won’t.
To Stan……
You pedantic little fuck. I could give a shit how to spell “Morrey” (sorry Morey). Why should I care? He didn’t care about dealers. No I wasn’t one….just in the scooter biz (a lot longer than him). Worked enthusiastically with him on viable ventures. Several promises from him yet NONE were ever kept. He’s a weasel. So again….I say HA HA
I hear Vespa Kelowna has gone out of business. I wonder if it had anything to do with CSC being shut down and Piaggio revamping its dealers.
A fitting end!
So you see what happens when you mix scooters with motorcycles … nobody gets along any more.
Long live Guzzi.
to emDS,
It’s Morey, not Morrey…. maybe you are one of the business “corpses” mentioned above because you lack attention to detail. Little things like how to spell the first name of a person you are doing business with. Give it some thought.
You’re assuming CSC is unhappy about it. I bet they are glad they are free from any further commitments to Piaggio. I would be.
All I can say to Morrey is HA HA
Good bye, Vespa Markham, Vespa London, Vespa Burlington…
I love forums. Everyone knows something about nothing. Unless you work for CSC or Piaggio I’ll take all your feedback with a grain of slat. But all I know is the sales right now are insane. If you are in the Toronto GTA area you should have a look. Prices are listed in Friday’s Toronto Star.
No worries Mike…
They have the leather with tassles…
😡 Wow. Who would have guessed that a three-wheeled scooter could generate so much emotionally charged discussion.
Dave you are an ignorant slut. If it was 30% of the currently depressed American sales it would be highly inaccurate as those bikes are not sold, they are likely sitting in warehouses as excess stock. happy Hanukkah.
I heard CSC refused to buy more product from Piaggio at the prices Piaggio was charging Canadians.
and if your distributor won’t help you screw Canadians, what are you left to do. They just couldn’t sell it and Canadians weren’t buying the “it just costs more in Canada” BS Piaggio won’t give Canadians “a break” now that they are doing it themselves, they’ll keep screwing us because they know they can. Wait and see.
Way to go Piaggio for an orderly transition! NOT. When will NEW bikes from Piaggio USA roll into Canada 2011? 2012? Aprilia and Moto Guzzi too. Dealer cannot sell without stock and so far not a peep from Piaggio about producing 1 single Canadian unit. Piaggio is a 60 year old company they’ll survive 1 or 2 years without a presence in Canada, but how about the Canadian dealers. Which dealer can just coast for a year or two? What about the ones that JUST sell Vespa? 2 years with no product? No problem, they’ll wait for Piaggio. RIGHT! Many dealers will be bailing on this brand.
Proof will be in the pudding, in one year let’s see where MSRPs in Canada will be and parts pricing and availability. Piaggio brands as of today’s date are number one in Canada in market share AND unit sales.
CSC sales represent at this date 30% of USA sales which is extraordinary as these sales should be approximately 8-10% of USA sales. Piaggio has decided to take Latin America and Canada direct at essentially the same time.
Piaggio is essentially penalizing CSC for doing too good a job and yanking the rug out from under CSC now that the dealer network of 70 retailers nationwide is in place
Piaggio Group Americas has also picked up the distribution in South America at the same time. It looks like they used local distributors to set up a dealer network, having these local business people invest time and money (like 7 years) and now that the dealer network is large enough to squeak out a small profit for these distributors Piaggio has scoopd up the distribution rights in both markets. Sounds fair doesnt it?
Also the cost difference between Canada and the US has ALWAYS been due to Piaggio selling CSC bikes and parts at an inflated rate, even when the CAN$ and US$ reached parity
“It is my understanding that Transport Canada requires a distributor to be physically located in Canada in order to allow vehicles to be imported here. Have the regulations changed or was I given incorrect information?”
All that’s needed is an office to handle logistics. Ducati’s head office is in California, no Canadian distributor
I admit Guzzi have been a bit patchy on their offerings over the years,
however as an owner of two 1976 Guzzi … which I totally love … I live in the hope that Guzzi will build some great new bikes for the future. The Guzzi engine is one of the great motorvators in motorcycling.
The following expressions sum up the Guzzi experience … :grin :p :zzz :cry 🙁 :grin
This seems to be inevitable. It happened back in 1999 or 2000 with KTM, then distributed by Barrett Mktg., Triumph did it, and I think Ducati did the same. They all come to realize that our market is too small for a dedicated distributor and roll it into the US one.
I wonder how successful the Guzzi brand is here. I can’t remember seeing one on the road.
It is my understanding that Transport Canada requires a distributor to be physically located in Canada in order to allow vehicles to be imported here. Have the regulations changed or was I given incorrect information?