What drives the increasing sales of Piaggio scooters and its associated brands in the United States?

You can leave Roman Holiday to the Italians. Most of us naturally associate Piaggio with Vespa and the timeless 50cc steel-framed model that comes so readily to mind when we think of Italian-designed scooters. But it wasn’t the Vespa original that fueled the reported 18 percent Vespa sales increase in the U.S. last year.

We caught up with U.S. Piaggio brand manager Kevin Andrews at the early February motorcycle show in Minneapolis, and his answer will bring a smile to maxiscooter enthusiasts. The GTS 250 follows the LX 150 in sales for the Vespa brand.

Despite only the partial-year sales after introduction in late March, the MP3 was a chart-topper for Piaggio. Next in 2007 sales came the Fly 150. On the Vespa side of the equation, surprisingly the classic 50cc is not a sales driver for Vespa in the United States.

The market explains why. Potential U.S. buyers for 50cc scooters tend to be young, female city dwellers on a limited budget. Andrews would love to see Piaggio send over 50cc Vespas with a lower seat height so more women would find the right fit. It also would help if Vespa had a lower price point for its least expensive scooters, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

On the other hand, many potential customers come into a Vespa dealership expecting to pay a premium at the higher end for the style and cutting edge technology offered by Vespa and the Piaggio MP3. Andrews points out that the arrival of the MP3 brought the Piaggio brand name into the American consciousness in a way that simply didn’t exist previously.

This year, the 400cc MP3 and the aggressive 500cc (nearly identical to the Gilera Fuoco overseas) have been added to the Piaggio line up, replacing the previous flagship X9 that struggled on showroom floors in the U.S.  Piaggio also will be replacing the Beverly line – the BV 500 and BV250 later this year. After getting a close look in Minneapolis, we are especially impressed with the styling, fit and finish of the 500cc. With only $200 separating the 400cc and 500cc in U.S. retail pricing, we will be curious to see how well the 400cc version sells.

The Piaggio MP3 500 (left) and 400 drew a lot attention in Minneapolis.

As for the eagerly anticipated Piaggio hybrid technology, Andrews confirms that Europe will get the HyS first - but U.S. distribution will not be far behind. No delivery dates have been announced.
 

It appears that the coming together of the various Piaggio brands has finally gotten beyond the initial growing pains that became especially apparent for U.S. customers. Piaggio is most closely linked to Vespa for marketing purposes, but Aprilia and Moto Guzzi (and Gilera outside of the U.S.) are also brandmates – making Piaggio much like the General Motors of European two-wheelers. The consolidation drew much criticism among U.S. customers who noticed that they literally were at the end of the line, but it now appears that the Piaggio group has its act together. Not only are we seeing much better parts and service response, but the Piaggio brands are also hitting their stride in marketing and more-attentive public relations.

So Piaggio has any number of reasons for defying the odds despite a downward U.S. economy.