Freak said:
Devils advocate here again (sorry)...
That's not helping Ducati sell new bikes though is it?
I recall Michael going on last week about BMW buy their bikes back to keep residuals high amongst other things, I know nothing about BMW's to be fair but there's a few people on here with them who might be better qualified to explain it.
No apologies needed mate!
What IS going to help Ducati sell more units (for me) is encompased in a number of new details.
The new bikes are reliable, significanly cheaper to service, and for the machines that took a while for customers to adapt to (Multi for example) are far more widely accepted.
This is what Ducati have been asked to produce by the press, media, public and existing customers. They are delivering what they have been asked for. I can only see this resulting in an increase in sales opportunity.
Couple these facts with a flagship like the D16 leading the brand image and a new Superbike that will draw customers back on both looks and performance and the future looks exciting to say the least.
The inclusion of the Hypermotard in the lineup with its expected volume is a massive boost both financially and fresh area it brings brand image wise. When new customers on the new breed of Ducati realise all of the hype surrounding the brand is false, word of mouth should act better than any advertising campaign. This will sell bikes for us.
The D16 is a huge cherry on top with the revenue it will generate and the image it portrays.
This is a time of massive change for the factory. They are turning a corner in their development.
Any preconceived ideas that the public may have right now are going to be addressed in a more aggressive fashion than ever before.
The product should and will speak positive volumes for itself.
I may end up eating my words but I seriously doubt it.
As to the BMW comparison, they have a very different network with more dedicated dealers and allocations per dealer. They also have a signifcant level of support from a well respected and very successful car industry.
It is no secret they have the ability to trade on the back of that success.
However their residuals, whilst some of the best in the market on some models (as BDG has noted) is comparable (or at times worse) than the rest of the market on other less desirable machinery. Again we are back to supply and demand.
It would be a bit of a sweeping generalisation to expect or state that the entire brand does not suffer poor residual results at times.
BMW have had a massive resurgence in the market place in the last couple of years. Fair play to them, it's been with good marketing, clever ideas and good products.
Each manufacturer has their pros and cons. I believe Ducati have had a good look at the way their business has been working for the last few years and have put an action plan together that shows true promise.
it doesn't answer the questions of current bikes as I asked earlier if Joe Public buys say a 2006 bike and then in 2007 the same bike, or same engine etc is 50% cheaper to service would he be happy? That must hit depreciation for a potential buyer everyone would rather have 1/2 price servicing, 2 year warranty etc probably over a discounted bike. Works great for Ducati sales but hits current customers hard and no one either seems to pick up on this or care.
