Auto Dealers Increasingly Target Powersports Franchises
Auto dealers, hoping to create a new profit center as consumers shy away from purchasing cars and trucks, are increasingly looking to the motorcycle business for an additional source of revenue.
Recently, Dallas-area dealer principals Bob Beck and Eddie Lee, owners of Lewisville Volksagen, opened Vespa of Lewisville. The scooter dealership, which retails Vespa, Aprilia and Piaggio product, is housed in a 4,500-square-foot building that shares a 13-acre property with Lewisville Volkswagen.
In addition to Vespa of Lewisville, and among many, many others – Moody Chevrolet in River Falls, Wis., established in 1940, last year began selling TG’B scooters; Hillcrest Chevrolet of Salem, Mass. last year began selling certified pre-owned Harley-Davidson bikes beside Chevy cars and trucks; long-time North Carolina-based auto dealer Ray McKenney together with partners last year bought a Honda powersports franchise; luxury auto dealer Foreign Affairs of West Palm Brach, Fla. has picked up Vectrix; and Minnesota auto giant Luther Automotive Group recently purchased Mankato Honda, an auto and powersports retailer.
"I think dealers across the country are looking for ways to save their businesses," Beck told the Dallas Morning News. He said his auto sales at Lewisville Volkwagen are down 30 to 40 percent.
Auto dealers picking up cycle franchises is a trend that’s apparently being supported by multiple OEMs.
BMW North America has long supplied dealers who retail both cycles and automobiles; Honda is signing more “Powerhouse” dealerships to retail its array of products from a single location; Piaggio USA two years ago began a national sales and marketing experiment by opening scooter dealerships in existing auto dealers’ facilities; American Suzuki Motor Corp. has broadcast a number of television and print advertisements that link the company's motorcycle heritage to its automobiles and currently supplies numerous retailers dealing in both cars and bikes; the revived Indian Motorcycle has said signing auto dealers would be a part of its growth plan; and scooter supplier TN’G is actively marketing to auto dealers on its website (www.tngscooters.com) claiming that it is “rapidly becoming one of the most attractive ‘supplemental’ profit centers for auto dealerships.”
The way TN’G sees it, scooters 1) help sell more SUVs and trucks because packaging a scooter with a truck or SUV allows the dealer to move inventory at higher price points and/or make sales with packages that competitors can't easily match; 2) serve as "eye candy" to help attract more prospects into a place of business; and 3) offer better margins than four-wheeled vehicles.
Submitted by "- Guido Ebert, Dealernews"
Recently, Dallas-area dealer principals Bob Beck and Eddie Lee, owners of Lewisville Volksagen, opened Vespa of Lewisville. The scooter dealership, which retails Vespa, Aprilia and Piaggio product, is housed in a 4,500-square-foot building that shares a 13-acre property with Lewisville Volkswagen.
In addition to Vespa of Lewisville, and among many, many others – Moody Chevrolet in River Falls, Wis., established in 1940, last year began selling TG’B scooters; Hillcrest Chevrolet of Salem, Mass. last year began selling certified pre-owned Harley-Davidson bikes beside Chevy cars and trucks; long-time North Carolina-based auto dealer Ray McKenney together with partners last year bought a Honda powersports franchise; luxury auto dealer Foreign Affairs of West Palm Brach, Fla. has picked up Vectrix; and Minnesota auto giant Luther Automotive Group recently purchased Mankato Honda, an auto and powersports retailer.
"I think dealers across the country are looking for ways to save their businesses," Beck told the Dallas Morning News. He said his auto sales at Lewisville Volkwagen are down 30 to 40 percent.
Auto dealers picking up cycle franchises is a trend that’s apparently being supported by multiple OEMs.
BMW North America has long supplied dealers who retail both cycles and automobiles; Honda is signing more “Powerhouse” dealerships to retail its array of products from a single location; Piaggio USA two years ago began a national sales and marketing experiment by opening scooter dealerships in existing auto dealers’ facilities; American Suzuki Motor Corp. has broadcast a number of television and print advertisements that link the company's motorcycle heritage to its automobiles and currently supplies numerous retailers dealing in both cars and bikes; the revived Indian Motorcycle has said signing auto dealers would be a part of its growth plan; and scooter supplier TN’G is actively marketing to auto dealers on its website (www.tngscooters.com) claiming that it is “rapidly becoming one of the most attractive ‘supplemental’ profit centers for auto dealerships.”
The way TN’G sees it, scooters 1) help sell more SUVs and trucks because packaging a scooter with a truck or SUV allows the dealer to move inventory at higher price points and/or make sales with packages that competitors can't easily match; 2) serve as "eye candy" to help attract more prospects into a place of business; and 3) offer better margins than four-wheeled vehicles.
Submitted by "- Guido Ebert, Dealernews"
I think dealers across the country are looking for ways to save their businesses
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