The first thing, which was worth spending 18 hours in a flying tube for, was getting to attend the Taiwan International Motorcycle Show held in Taipei early last month. The motorcycle show was one of four separate shows held simultaneously at the Taipei World Trade Center which included Automotive Parts, Electric Vehicles and Autotronics.
I will be covering this show in greater detail in the next issue, but one of the biggest takeaways I got was just how much of a powerhouse Taiwan is in manufacturing. It’s hard to understand until you see it for yourself. Everywhere you turned was another example of a Taiwanese company with massive manufacturing capacity.
Most of the exhibitors were there for the local market which is made up of a population of about 10 million scooters. Speaking of scooters, I also had the chance to visit the KYMCO factory in Kaohsiung and was impressed by the volume and speed of the production line. But the high-speed rail back to Taipei was equally impressive, reaching 177 mph!
The second thing is the recently released Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) which revealed that Ducati dealerships have returned to the top of of the rankings. The last time Ducati dealerships were ranked No. 1 was in 2009.
Harley-Davidson dealers were ranked No. 1 in last year’s study but fell to second this year. The study measures dealership treatment of motorcycle shoppers, with rankings by brand determined by Pied Piper’s special patent-pending process, which gives a score to mystery shopping and ties it to sales success.
According to the report, performance improved significantly industry-wide from last year, with 12 of 17 brands scoring higher. Not getting ahead of ourselves, the study also said there’s room for improvement throughout the industry.
For instance, 84 percent of salespeople still greet customers with, “Can I help you?” and get, “Just looking,” in response. On the other hand, dealerships sell 34 percent more vehicles when the salesman asks for the sale at least 67 percent of the time.
For more interesting stats from this study, be sure to check it out here.
