Freak
Is it still summer?
Thought I'd start a bit of a debate and see what people think about Ducati's current model line up going forward and looking at the past and seeing if we all think it's a good or a bad plan?
My reasoning is that I've been thinking about this for a few days and even though I have limited knowledge of the brand as a whole and have only owned 3 Ducati's so far all in the last 5-6 years maybe there are people here in fact I am sure there are who would have a far better knowledge and wider understanding of Ducati's branding and models and evolution\revolution of their range and their marketing structure.
I doubt anyone would disagree that the 916 wasn't an instant classic and opened my eyes to the brand back when it was launched, plus the Foggy factor made the bike an instant classic here and abroad and Ducati did what they do best by evolving the bike over nearly 10 years into the 998 Final Edition. If you break this down the 916-998 line had many changes over the years but still maintained the same lines (for the most part) and most of the components also this is great from a profitability point of view as they're just producing effectively the same parts for nearly 10 years.
The problem then arises that when someone within Ducati decided that the 998 was no longer competitive in WSB and sales were dwindling for the old design something new and exciting had to come along, in my eyes whatever that was was never going to be better than the 916 it cannot be not to have survived that long and sure enough the 999 wasn't well received as I completely expected and for the purists it still isn't, maybe they find it hard to believe that actually the 999 is a better bike maybe not a looker but it is a better bike.
If Ducati had taken a leaf out of the Japanese bike manufacturers books then non of this would of happened, although I doubt Ducati as a brand as big enough to replace a model every two/three years. An example would be the R1 originally released in 1998 and I think we're on our 4th maybe 5th incarnation in 8 years now with a new model coming in 2007 also. Look as say Kawasaki with the ZX-10R the original looked stunning but the current (new) model IMO doesn't look 1/2 as good with those "not quite underseat pipes" it's probably a better bike on the whole but I wouldn't imagine they're sold as many as the Mk1, but they'll just learn from this and quickly make changes to the next model.
Anyway back to Ducati, the 1098 looms and will be viewed by the public for the first time in 2 months at the Milan show, spy shots and artists impressions are all over the web and various magazine covers, single sided swingarm possibly 916 styled lights, twin exhausts but the remainder looks like a 999, no doubt the bike will be a stonker but my view is they have bowed to public opinion and pressure plus they've seen how successful the sports classics have been since they arrived which must of affected the styling queues somewhat. To me this is a step backwards rather than pushing the design envelope they've simply gone back to proven designs from what I can see which will please the purists maybe but will this harm the brand/resale for current owners going forward?
I recall back in July 2004 Ducati launched the 2005 999/749 range at Laguna Seca WSB with the new nosecone and all models then got the aluminium swingarm, UK dealers couldn't sell 04 bikes for the want of trying after that and a meeting was held by Ducati UK and all the Ducati dealers and discounts were given for the 04 models after this, I'm sure people who bought a new bike at the beginning of 2004 weren't best pleased and maybe made them think twice about buying another.
Look at "R" owners a few years ago limmited numbers were made each year, now Ducati seem to have changed this stance also, they'll sell as many R's as they can now. This also appears to be happening with the Desmosedici project too according to last weeks MCN, claiming orders for over 700 units currently when initially they were stating 3-400 units.
I know it's a business at the end of the day and if someone ordered several 100 units you'd do your best to fulfil that order and increase profits but potential customers willing to spend that kind of money would want it to remain exclusive I'm sure to retain it's value down the line, look at MV in this example they're a small, very small company and the latest F4 1000 is available in several incarnations, some costing around £30,000 but they're producing something like 50 of these models which will keep residuals high one would hope.
Ducati on the other hand have listened to their customers/potential customers also lets not forget this they have promised up to 50% less servicing costs on 2007 models but most of the 2007 range is still based on bikes already available so why can this not filter down to older models? Plus does that hit the values of 2nd hand (pre 2007 models) as potential buyers will see what a 2006 bike costs to service over a 2007 model.
This isn't a whinge by any stretch of the imagination I'm just curious to try and understand Ducati's marketting strategy and what the ducatisti here think also, comments/views more than welcome.
My reasoning is that I've been thinking about this for a few days and even though I have limited knowledge of the brand as a whole and have only owned 3 Ducati's so far all in the last 5-6 years maybe there are people here in fact I am sure there are who would have a far better knowledge and wider understanding of Ducati's branding and models and evolution\revolution of their range and their marketing structure.
I doubt anyone would disagree that the 916 wasn't an instant classic and opened my eyes to the brand back when it was launched, plus the Foggy factor made the bike an instant classic here and abroad and Ducati did what they do best by evolving the bike over nearly 10 years into the 998 Final Edition. If you break this down the 916-998 line had many changes over the years but still maintained the same lines (for the most part) and most of the components also this is great from a profitability point of view as they're just producing effectively the same parts for nearly 10 years.
The problem then arises that when someone within Ducati decided that the 998 was no longer competitive in WSB and sales were dwindling for the old design something new and exciting had to come along, in my eyes whatever that was was never going to be better than the 916 it cannot be not to have survived that long and sure enough the 999 wasn't well received as I completely expected and for the purists it still isn't, maybe they find it hard to believe that actually the 999 is a better bike maybe not a looker but it is a better bike.
If Ducati had taken a leaf out of the Japanese bike manufacturers books then non of this would of happened, although I doubt Ducati as a brand as big enough to replace a model every two/three years. An example would be the R1 originally released in 1998 and I think we're on our 4th maybe 5th incarnation in 8 years now with a new model coming in 2007 also. Look as say Kawasaki with the ZX-10R the original looked stunning but the current (new) model IMO doesn't look 1/2 as good with those "not quite underseat pipes" it's probably a better bike on the whole but I wouldn't imagine they're sold as many as the Mk1, but they'll just learn from this and quickly make changes to the next model.
Anyway back to Ducati, the 1098 looms and will be viewed by the public for the first time in 2 months at the Milan show, spy shots and artists impressions are all over the web and various magazine covers, single sided swingarm possibly 916 styled lights, twin exhausts but the remainder looks like a 999, no doubt the bike will be a stonker but my view is they have bowed to public opinion and pressure plus they've seen how successful the sports classics have been since they arrived which must of affected the styling queues somewhat. To me this is a step backwards rather than pushing the design envelope they've simply gone back to proven designs from what I can see which will please the purists maybe but will this harm the brand/resale for current owners going forward?
I recall back in July 2004 Ducati launched the 2005 999/749 range at Laguna Seca WSB with the new nosecone and all models then got the aluminium swingarm, UK dealers couldn't sell 04 bikes for the want of trying after that and a meeting was held by Ducati UK and all the Ducati dealers and discounts were given for the 04 models after this, I'm sure people who bought a new bike at the beginning of 2004 weren't best pleased and maybe made them think twice about buying another.
Look at "R" owners a few years ago limmited numbers were made each year, now Ducati seem to have changed this stance also, they'll sell as many R's as they can now. This also appears to be happening with the Desmosedici project too according to last weeks MCN, claiming orders for over 700 units currently when initially they were stating 3-400 units.
I know it's a business at the end of the day and if someone ordered several 100 units you'd do your best to fulfil that order and increase profits but potential customers willing to spend that kind of money would want it to remain exclusive I'm sure to retain it's value down the line, look at MV in this example they're a small, very small company and the latest F4 1000 is available in several incarnations, some costing around £30,000 but they're producing something like 50 of these models which will keep residuals high one would hope.
Ducati on the other hand have listened to their customers/potential customers also lets not forget this they have promised up to 50% less servicing costs on 2007 models but most of the 2007 range is still based on bikes already available so why can this not filter down to older models? Plus does that hit the values of 2nd hand (pre 2007 models) as potential buyers will see what a 2006 bike costs to service over a 2007 model.
This isn't a whinge by any stretch of the imagination I'm just curious to try and understand Ducati's marketting strategy and what the ducatisti here think also, comments/views more than welcome.
A. but I don't like the colour)
