TheScooterScoop

Argo USA formerly Bajaj USA has been pretty tight lipped about what to expect from them in ’06. With the death of the Chetak and the uncertainty of the rest of the Bajaj scooter line, things seemed bleak for Al Kovites. I sent a little communication to Al to see if he would give us a tiny hint as to what to expect in 2006. What he had to say boils down to this:

“We are working in a lot of directions but I don’t want to mislead anyone.”

What does that mean to you and I?
That we have to have patients.
Well… as Grouchy Smurf would say “I hate patients!” No scoop for us. :(

***UPDATE***
Al gave the complete story on the demise of Bajaj USA and the rise of Argo USA… From the Bajaj forums, it goes like this:

We had suspicions that this kind of thing might happen when we visited the factory 8 months ago. Management spent a lot of time telling us how the motorcycles were selling great guns (145,000 per month at that time) and how scooter sales were declining (averaging about 9,000 a month). And we could see that they were gradually removing scooters from their lineup. Bajaj has promised many things in the past that never came to pass, we were becoming accustomed to disappointment, so we were waiting for the other shoe to drop. (more on this subject later)

It looks like Bajaj is going out of the scooter business and will concentrate on motorcycles. Bajaj Auto has obviously made a business decision to change the direction of the products they produce, they have something like 10,000 employees at three plants, they are not closing shop, they are growing the business, just not to our liking.

Fortunately we had ordered enough Chetaks to cover us for 2006 and into 2007. The Silver and Black Chetaks have arrived and the metallic Jade are on the water.

Bajaj’s policy is to stock and supply parts for a least 5 years after discontinuing a model, then leaving parts to aftermarket suppliers. As you can see with other discontinued brands, spare parts are not normally a problem. The more scooters out there, the more manufacturers there are that want to take advantage of the parts business. As I state on our web site, we will continue to support and supply parts for the Bajaj scooters that we sell. We have thousands of parts in stock and have every intention of supporting the Bajaj products… selling parts is a good business too.

Since the very beginning of our relationship with Bajaj Auto, we asked (begged) for an automatic transmission scooter. While this may seem like sacrilege to many enthusiasts on this forum, the sad fact is that the majority of scooter riders want an automatic transmission. Sales of scooters with manual transmissions parallel the automotive industry, only a small percentage of auto sales are manual transmission. Go the Hertz or U-Haul and rent a truck, they all have automatic transmissions. We needed an automatic in our scooter offering to make this a viable business.

When we first got involved with Bajaj Auto, they were working on a relationship with Cagiva. They even had a nice, Italian style, prototype with a 150cc engine and automatic transmission. It was a good looking scooter…then the Cagiva project suddenly disappeared without explanation. Next was the promise of a 110cc automatic. It came out as a 90cc with a weird 3 speed automatic transmission. We tested it here and found the transmission lacking and the power too low. Next was the promise of a 125cc with a CV transmission. They indicated it would be a high performance scooter with the power of a 150cc engine. ( I said I would prefer a 150cc engine with the power of a 150cc engine) It arrived as a 110cc automatic, with styling that they couldn’t sell in their domestic market. That unit was quickly discontinued. Next was the promise of a 200cc, 4 valves per cylinder, water-cooled, European design, automatic or electric shift manual transmission. Anyone seen that model? You never will… project cancelled.

So, now, after a long wait for more Bajaj scooters suitable for the U.S. market, we will be getting zero. Their motorcycles are in the 110cc to 180cc range, very few people have shown any interest in a 180cc motorcycle. The majority of new motor cycle buyers will look as nothing less than a 250cc. Last year, Rajiv Bajaj mentioned that they were working on a 440cc twin cylinder motorcycle… I’m not holding my breath.

For those of you who are wringing your hands over the Bajaj factory decision, I suggest that your Bajaj scooter, instead of holding good resale value, is now going to increase in value. Take a look at what has happened to other classic scooters… particularly the reliable ones.

So maybe Argo USA should have been created sooner. I should have been looking at other brands after the first promised Bajaj automatic did not materialize. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me 4 times, shame on me.

The Argo USA web site will be changing its look shortly, but will continue full web support for the Bajaj products. As new scooters become available to us, we will give them the same support that we are giving the Bajaj products.

I’m confident that most of you will find it in your heart to overlook the “shiftless” nature of the new scooters that Argo will be importing and will offer a courteous welcome to the new riders that buy them…and perhaps we can all get along as the family of Argonauts.

And to those of you who offered your best wishes and support for our new adventure, thank you very much, I appreciate it.

Regards,
Al Kolvites

-Thanks for that info Al! We are all wishing you the best and we know you’ve got something special to pull out of your hat. We’re just looking forward to finding out what it is.
steve