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Vespa back, and sales exceed expectations

By Vijo Varghese

The Nation

"We want our customers to look at our products and smile."

Who would say that? Perhaps only someone who is selling well-known products from another era; products that sweep people away with feelings of nostalgia and make them feel young at heart again.

So it was. The marketing posture of a gentler time came from none other than the official distributor of Vespa scooters in Thailand.

Vespa has long been a well-known brand in Thailand. Ask anyone about Vespa and they'll regale you with stories of turbans rather than safety helmets and loads of textiles that could fill a truck on the back of tiny labouring machines.

But time has flown. Vespa is now back in Thailand with a new range of products. Officially launched at the Bangkok International Motor Show earlier this year, Vespa is now positioned as a premium scooter in the local market.

After investing about Bt80 million, the official distributor, Vespiario Thailand, aims to sell 5,000 scooters by 2012. It is also planning further investment to expand its showrooms. The main showroom in Thonglor is designed with the modern consumer in mind, with funky artwork and Vespa accessories all around. The only things that are retro about it are the scooters themselves.

"We've sold almost 600 units in the past three months, since our launch, which is quite a surprise - even for us. Now we are targeting 1,500 to 2,000 sales by the end of this year. The Thai economy is growing and there are many people willing to pay a premium for something special to move around on. For our customers, the Vespa has much emotional value," said Vespiario Thailand's managing director Pornada Nivatvongs.

Priced between Bt99,000 and Bt325,000 the new-age Vespas are not cheap. The version on which the company hopes to focus in Thailand is the LX 150, which is made in Vietnam and comes with a 150cc engine and automatic transmission. The LX 150, which costs Bt99,000, is expected to generate about 90 per cent of local sales.

Other models include the GTS 250, costing Bt285,000, and the GTS 300, costing Bt310,000. The new model retaining most of the classic Vespa appearance is the GTV 250, which celebrates 60 years of Vespa history and costs Bt325,000.

Pornada said other new arrivals like the Honda PCX, which was priced at about Bt70,000, had made the price of the Vespas more acceptable.

While the marketing of the new Vespas is aimed at young trendy individuals in their late 20s, Pornada said customers came from all age groups. Some already own original classic Vespas and want a new one to add to their collection. The expensive GTS and GTV models are aimed at older individuals who are willing to pay for the classic looks.

"Since we're a niche brand, we plan to do more community marketing and target selected groups. Our focus will be on lifestyle events and when the number of Vespa owners is big enough, we're planning Vespa trips that will involve travelling as a group. We also plan to support classic clubs," Pornada said.

"We currently plan to have 20 dealers by the end of the year. Fourteen of them will be in Bangkok and the remaining four in the North and the East of Thailand. We're also looking at dealers in the South. All of our dealers sell other bike brands as well, but will have a special section for Vespas. It's crucial to have a good after-sales service, and that's one of our top priorities now," she said.

Since the LX150 is produced in Vietnam, the company has benefitted from the Asean free-trade agreement, which allows the scooters to be imported duty-free.

Currently, the Italian manufacturer of Vespa, Piaggio, produces only the LX150 in Vietnam. If it begins producing other models in Vietnam, these will surely be imported to Thailand, Pornada said. Vespiario Thailand is also considering selling other brands of motorcycles and scooters from the Piaggio group, such as Aprilia and Gilera.

-- The Nation 2010-07-28

[ScubaBuddha]

A local shop in Phuket had an anniversary party last weekend. There was a large number of Thai guys and gals wearing "Phuket Big Buddha Motorcycle Club" t-shirts. We had never heard of these guys and were curious who they were. Obviously a new club since Big Buddha hasn't been around that long. When we went outside we saw they had arrived on about 20 Vespa's. Cool little machines actually. I enjoyed looking at all the different models, though admittedly I wouldn't know whether I was looking at an original or one of these newer models.

[LivinLOS]

Am up in CM now, and loads of the classics around in all states from rough old tatty ones to gleaming fully restored ones.. Saw a black sprint 150 yesterday with perfect chrome brightwork and have to say, I would have owned it happily..

Stupid little wheels, not nearly as practical as a modern machine, but thats missing the point..

[nikster]

Well - I picked one up today. Honestly, it's not that big a jump from a PCX. When you're in the showroom and the PCX looks kinda... well the way it looks. It doesn't look bad, but it does pale a bit in comparison with a timeless classic design like the Vespa LX150. The PCX is 125cc, the Vespa 150cc and it's 72k vs 99k baht. You are still paying a premium but not _that_ much. Half a Scoopy.

The Scoopy and Finos looks very small next to the Vespa - and also much less cute. I quite like both Fino and Scoopy on their own, but Honda and Yamaha seem hel_l bent on screwing up the color schemes. Yamaha has managed 3 years now with butt-ugly colors - it's a skill in itself: How to screw up a perfect design. The plasticy gold and silver tones on all new Hondas are not really my thing either. And they're both physically very small. They look like little toys next to the Vespa. As they should since they cost half as much

Anyway. I think Vespa will continue to do very well. More Thais have the money, and there's lots of financing options available in case you don't have the cash outright. Unless these machines develop some terrible problems - you never know with an Italian company - they should keep their value pretty well too. Vespa also, cleverly, makes lots of cute but shamelessly overpriced add-ons. Me, I'll wait for third party upgrades to become available.

[Richard-BKK]

I'm wondering when somebody gets the idea to do some grey import with the Vespa's. Last time I was in Vietnam the Vespa's where not that expensive – not that I really looked.

And the Asean free-trade agreement is also valid for anybody else in Thailand.

[JimmyTheMook]

This Vespa is made in Vietnam with Vietnamese language stickers and really crappy parts used , check out how cheesy the buttons used for the turn signals are - hardly reminiscent of the Vespa's of old.

[angiud]

:wub:

[angiud]

Double post. Sorry

Edited July 28, 2010 by angiud

[Tigersachsclub]

:wub:

Nice picture...what model is it? I am asking as it has the headlight on the fender.

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

[LivinLOS]

Think the GTV 250 is the one with the low headlight..

[eek]

Vespas are just gorgeous. I went for a Fino because of the Vespa feel but with more CC's. But with the new Vespas having more oomph..well it will be very tempting. However, i love the olde beat up Vespas. Look awesome..but kinda useless if you want any kind of power (in my humble opinion). Old Vespas are around the 50 cc mark, right??

Priced between Bt99,000 and Bt325,000 the new-age Vespas are not cheap

OOoh woh.. 325,000 for a scooter.

[Tigersachsclub]

Think the GTV 250 is the one with the low headlight..

Thanks for that...you are right it is the GTV 250....looks very special with the Light on the fender

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

[angiud]

VESPA 250 GTV Note the beautiful rims :wub:

[LivinLOS]

Vespas are just gorgeous. I went for a Fino because of the Vespa feel but with more CC's. But with the new Vespas having more oomph..well it will be very tempting. However, i love the olde beat up Vespas. Look awesome..but kinda useless if you want any kind of power (in my humble opinion). Old Vespas are around the 50 cc mark, right??

Priced between Bt99,000 and Bt325,000 the new-age Vespas are not cheap

OOoh woh.. 325,000 for a scooter.

Classic vespas are commonly 150cc (theres 160 180 and 200) 2 strokes.. Compared to IIRC 112c on a fino.. Plus 2 stroke puts out lots more power per cc compared to 4 stroke.

I am sure theres some really old post WW11 low cc ones.. But those would probably be worth so much to collectors.

[LivinLOS]

Vespas are just gorgeous. I went for a Fino because of the Vespa feel but with more CC's. But with the new Vespas having more oomph..well it will be very tempting. However, i love the olde beat up Vespas. Look awesome..but kinda useless if you want any kind of power (in my humble opinion). Old Vespas are around the 50 cc mark, right??

Priced between Bt99,000 and Bt325,000 the new-age Vespas are not cheap

OOoh woh.. 325,000 for a scooter.

Yeah and thats not just Thailand.. They are multi 1000 machines in the west to for the 250 and 300 specials.

[Tigersachsclub]

VESPA 250 GTV Note the beautiful rims :wub:

Yep the 250 GTV is also my favorite...by coincident it is also the most expensive one available at 325000 thb...

Still the bike stays surely high in its value and 250 cc should give some nice power too.

The rims look very nice ,

Tiger/Sachs Club - Mbox

[Richard-BKK]

325,000 Bht for the Vespa GT300 is pretty cheap, Yamaha sells a scooter in Thailand for 550,000 Bht.

[nikster]

325,000 Bht for the Vespa GT300 is pretty cheap, Yamaha sells a scooter in Thailand for 550,000 Bht.

I love the whole "justifying the price" thing going on here - keep it up guys. Makes me feel much better spending 100k on a scooter

By the way no buyer's remorse here, I get to look at her every day in the yard, and she makes me smile. So pretty. Crappy parts? Who cares, we'll replace them when they break. The buttons specifically look high quality to me, similar to the ones on the PCX. We shall see how she holds up.

[Orita]

While I like the Vespa best, from all the scooters presently available in Thailand, a few things

still hold me back.

-Both, the 125cc and the 150cc LX models have a carburetter, and are not fuel injected like Scoopy and PCX

-Due to the apparently lean carburettor settings, acceleration pick-up seams a little slow at first and morning

start-ups are not as instant and smooth.

-Brakes are not as good as on the PCX

-The Vespa is a one piece metal construction and in case of an accident, repairs are inherently more difficult and costly.

-The rear tire, according to Vespa 150LX owners, lasts only about 5000 KM and costs about 3,000.- (Pirelli)

Besides all of the above, the Vespa is the classic, sitting position is much better for a large individual as either

Scoopy or PCX, you get the bag-hook & the under-seat storage, and the solid build.

So, perhaps some feedback from an owner on consumption and driving impressions would be nice.

Thanks.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Orita

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

325,000 Bht for the Vespa GT300 is pretty cheap, Yamaha sells a scooter in Thailand for 550,000 Bht.

I love the whole "justifying the price" thing going on here - keep it up guys. Makes me feel much better spending 100k on a scooter

So, Nikster, do you have some live pix of your pride and joy? Would like to see what new one looks like, especially the gauge cluster.

[Richard-BKK]

325,000 Bht for the Vespa GT300 is pretty cheap, Yamaha sells a scooter in Thailand for 550,000 Bht.

I love the whole "justifying the price" thing going on here - keep it up guys. Makes me feel much better spending 100k on a scooter

By the way no buyer's remorse here, I get to look at her every day in the yard, and she makes me smile. So pretty. Crappy parts? Who cares, we'll replace them when they break. The buttons specifically look high quality to me, similar to the ones on the PCX. We shall see how she holds up.

I have learned that 99 percent of the people who say things like "crappy parts" or "bad quality", etc...etc... never been closer than 5 meters to the product they so condemn. Motivation for saying stuff like that is mostly jealousy or envy.

[ttakata]

I like the Vespas, never had one but I liked them the day I saw one with 20 mirrors on it.

It wasn't quite as ridiculous as this though.

I give this guy a 10 for ballsiness.

[nikster]

It's the wife's bike, not mine, so I don't drive it every day. Drove it around the moo baan and it was OK. I'll go test the max speed soon, the wife has not even tried so far. Maybe I'll get some more pix too, there are two in the other thread on the Vespa topic, but both from afar, they don't show anything you couldn't see on the press pix.

The instrument cluster etc is beautiful, just like everything else on the bike

Startup seems to be a problem already, but I think they just need to adjust the idle setting. I blame it on the fact that the guys selling it up here (NP CM) are not really a serious bike shop. They sell TVs and fridges too, after all. Anyway she starts fine if you give her some gas. It's a shame there isn't a real Vespa-only dealer up here. Strange because there are so many little shops dedicated to old Vespas, you'd think there's some interest.

Carburator - right - this will make it less fuel efficient, and harder to start in the winter. Then again I remember many people railing against FI when it was first introduced... I guess those complaints have gone away by now

Maybe to make up for that the LX 150 has an 8 liter fuel tank. Compared to my Wave's 4l tank that seems like a lot.

The brakes are fine - front disk brakes should be totally sufficient.

As for the rear tire - if that's true, maybe there other manufacturers have tires that last a little longer? It seems to me like you wouldn't need race-grade stickiness on a Vespa. Hmm... maybe it's also because these wheels are very small, so the tire will do 2x or 3x the number of revolutions of a normal size tire for the same amount of kilometers? Just speculation but it would make sense. Still they should do better than 5k.

I was surprised about the sitting position - it is indeed very high. This is a Farang-size bike.

[JohnLeech]

325,000 Bht for the Vespa GT300 is pretty cheap, Yamaha sells a scooter in Thailand for 550,000 Bht.

I love the whole "justifying the price" thing going on here - keep it up guys. Makes me feel much better spending 100k on a scooter

By the way no buyer's remorse here, I get to look at her every day in the yard, and she makes me smile. So pretty. Crappy parts? Who cares, we'll replace them when they break. The buttons specifically look high quality to me, similar to the ones on the PCX. We shall see how she holds up.

I think people buy Vespas for much the same reasons people buy Harleys - its a subjective decision rather than an objective one, and price is not a deciding factor.

[ttakata]

Yep, buying anything Italian has less to do with function and more to do with desire and fashion.

No one really needs to drive a Ducati, Vespa, or Ferrari to get around and no one really needs to wear an Armani suit or Bulgari watch.

But lets face it , we want to.

Whatever makes you happy and you can afford it, get it.

I saw a new white LX150 yesterday and took a good look.

It looked pretty good overall except the chromed plastic tail light housing had waviness in it because the plastic cooled unevenly out of the mold.

This is more the fault of the original mold design, not the fact that it was produced in Vietnam.

I'm a nitpciker, but for this kind of money it is BS and expect better since a Fino doesn't have such flaws.

Other than that it looked pretty quality to me.

Oh well, it is Italian transportation so it may not be as perfected as a Japanese bike but it has Italian style and heritage.

I only wish I had Vespa's brand recognition with the ladies.

[angiud]

Yep, buying anything Italian has less to do with function and more to do with desire and fashion.

No one really needs to drive a Ducati, Vespa, or Ferrari to get around and no one really needs to wear an Armani suit or Bulgari watch.

But lets face it , we want to.

Whatever makes you happy and you can afford it, get it.

I saw a new white LX150 yesterday and took a good look.

It looked pretty good overall except the chromed plastic tail light housing had waviness in it because the plastic cooled unevenly out of the mold.

This is more the fault of the original mold design, not the fact that it was produced in Vietnam.

I'm a nitpciker, but for this kind of money it is BS and expect better since a Fino doesn't have such flaws.

Other than that it looked pretty quality to me.

Oh well, it is Italian transportation so it may not be as perfected as a Japanese bike but it has Italian style and heritage.

I only wish I had Vespa's brand recognition with the ladies.

Amen

[canuckamuck]

I think people buy Vespas for much the same reasons people buy Harleys - its a subjective decision rather than an objective one, and price is not a deciding factor.

Yes both groups prefer the illusion of quality over the lower priced actual quality which is readily available.

Not too many Vespas at Daytona Bike week or at Sturgis either though

[jackcorbett]

Personally if I lived in the U.S. I'd get a BMW. However, there was a scarcity of dealerships around so no matter how much I might like having another BMW again, this would not be practical. Also, I want to add that the Japanese machinery be they cars or motorcycles simply work and they work for a long time without any major problems. Both the Germans and the Japanese are perfectionists. However, for some strange reason when you go online to check out cost of ownership, frequency of repair, etc the Japanese cars come off a lot better. Same applies to Thailand. Parts availability and the ability to get one's bike serviced anywhere can be very critical.

Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki are all Japanese companies and whether they are made in Thailand or Vietnam or wherever they are going to be built it's going to be according to Japanese specs and standards. I've bought three motorbikes here in Thailand, a 115 c.c. Yamaha Nouvo for myself, a pretty solid colored red Yamaha Fino for my ex girlfriend and finally my present mount, a Yamaha 135 c.c. Nouvo Elegance. All of them have worked to perfection and there's none of this, "The carburetor was adjusted too lean or the tires have such a small diameter that they turn so rapidly that one cannot get any meaningful mileage out of them. Small diameter wheels and tires is stone age technology. Several of my friends have had Waves or Honda Air Blades and it's the same same thing. They run like Swiss watches. Right out of the box.

I will admit that the Fino has recently come in some pretty ghastly colors. I'd just simply buy one for around 40,000 baht or so and have it repainted if this is the kind of bike I'd want. That way I'd be getting the best engineering, the best styled bike of its kind and the best looker. Best looker?...you bet or at least in my opinion. Take a look at the rear end of the Fino versus the rear end of a Vespa. Notice how rounded and contoured the Fino's rear end looks? (Would you want your girl friend to have a backside like the Vespa or the Fino?) And as for a Vespa having 150 c'c's, just check around online to see what a 150 c.c. Vespa will do or for that matter the larger models. It takes a lot of cc's for a Vespa to do what a much smaller displacement Japanese bike will do.

Edited August 1, 2010 by jackcorbett

[LivinLOS]

Personally if I lived in the U.S. I'd get a BMW. However, there was a scarcity of dealerships around so no matter how much I might like having another BMW again, this would not be practical. Also, I want to add that the Japanese machinery be they cars or motorcycles simply work and they work for a long time without any major problems. Both the Germans and the Japanese are perfectionists. However, for some strange reason when you go online to check out cost of ownership, frequency of repair, etc the Japanese cars come off a lot better. Same applies to Thailand. Parts availability and the ability to get one's bike serviced anywhere can be very critical.

Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki are all Japanese companies and whether they are made in Thailand or Vietnam or wherever they are going to be built it's going to be according to Japanese specs and standards. I've bought three motorbikes here in Thailand, a 115 c.c. Yamaha Nouvo for myself, a pretty solid colored red Yamaha Fino for my ex girlfriend and finally my present mount, a Yamaha 135 c.c. Nouvo Elegance. All of them have worked to perfection and there's none of this, "The carburetor was adjusted too lean or the tires have such a small diameter that they turn so rapidly that one cannot get any meaningful mileage out of them. Small diameter wheels and tires is stone age technology. Several of my friends have had Waves or Honda Air Blades and it's the same same thing. They run like Swiss watches. Right out of the box.

I will admit that the Fino has recently come in some pretty ghastly colors. I'd just simply buy one for around 40,000 baht or so and have it repainted if this is the kind of bike I'd want. That way I'd be getting the best engineering, the best styled bike of its kind and the best looker. Best looker?...you bet or at least in my opinion. Take a look at the rear end of the Fino versus the rear end of a Vespa. Notice how rounded and contoured the Fino's rear end looks? (Would you want your girl friend to have a backside like the Vespa or the Fino?) And as for a Vespa having 150 c'c's, just check around online to see what a 150 c.c. Vespa will do or for that matter the larger models. It takes a lot of cc's for a Vespa to do what a much smaller displacement Japanese bike will do.

Your calling airblades and finos 'swiss watches' and comparing their reliability to vespas being ridden around now that are 40 plus years old ?!?! Lets see how many finos and airblades are being ridden about in 2050 !!!

Secondly to compare a plastic modern scoot to a classic (and say a fino is prettier, than one of those lovely wide LX machines) is just totally missing the point.. Its like saying a vios is better than a Khaman Ghia, or the mundane reliability of an MX5 is superior to a Porsche 353 speedster. Yes I am sure they are more reliable, get better gas mileage, safer, etc but thats just not 'getting' why people have and love classics.

No need to check online, a 2 stroke vespa will pull far harder than a fino, tho they are not designed for high speed riding, they will top out at 100 - 120 kph. Try a PX against any sub 250 scoot here, none will touch it if acceleration is your metric. An unmodified PX can put out 15hp about the same as a CBR150, plus being 2 stroke more horsepower is easy to attain, but unrequired.

Owning any classic, especially a 40 year old 2 stroke, is going to be a labour of love, you dont do it cos you want the simplest cheapest most economical run to the shops machine, you do it cos you love the look, the style, the heritage..

[Orita]

Yes, there are always arguments pro and against about any bike purchase.

It would be great, if Nikster can give us some more detailed driving impressions.

-Consumption, top speed, and handling?

-Experiences with Niyom Panich in CM?

-Does the Vespa take 95 or 91 Gashol?

Thanks Nikster.

Edited August 1, 2010 by Orita