I’m not sure if we’ll see anything like that in the USA, but it makes a good point on how Vespa got into scooters in the first place… because of a tanked economy.
Here’s some more:
In Australia, scooter sales rocketed 7.6 per cent last year, helping the two-wheeled market to a record 3.2 per cent increase, according to figures released yesterday by the Federal Chamber of Austomotive Industries. Car, van and truck sales dropped 3.6 per cent.Major Brisbane scooter dealer Joe D’Ercole said he expected sales to continue rising.
“The whole reason Vespa exists is that after World War II there was a credit crisis, mortgage issues and high fuel costs just like today,” he said.“The main problem is that people can’t get credit to buy a $2500 scooter. People are even selling off household items just to buy one. I had one guy trying to sell his big flat screen TV because they had two of them. The trouble is, what’s a second-hand TV worth?”
FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said the drop in fuel prices below $1 a litre would not slow the scooter or low-capacity motorcycle market.
“With the sort of economic challenges around, people will still be looking at those sorts of economic alternatives,” he said.
Will a downward spiraling economy finally wake people up or will they be living in their SUV and standing in a bread line when they finally see the light?
12. January 2009 at 7:14 pm
I imagine they’ll be living in the SUV because they can’t sell it. One of the reasons I got a Ford Escape is because I could sleep in it if I had to. One of the reasons I got a scooter was because it seemed likely gas would be expensive and/or hard to get.
__Orin
Scootin’ Old-skool
12. January 2009 at 7:20 pm
Hey Orin,
Spacious! You could rent out the front seats to help pay for gas! ;)
I hope it NEVER gets to that, but I am taking it seriously.
13. January 2009 at 3:49 pm
You know things here in South Korea are just as bad, except that the problem is that Transportation whether it be by motorcycle, scooter, or car. It is a status symbol here. So if you have a used Scooter and you “bang” it up in an accident or maybe it just needs a little work. People will just throw them to the side and let the garbage trucks pick them up. Thats how i got my craptacular Honda Tact. it had body damage, it was cracked, and barely ran. People are so wasteful here.
13. January 2009 at 3:52 pm
Wow Spencer! Old scoots on the side of the ROAD?! Ok, new plan… cancel 1 year trip to Japan and reroute to South Korea.
Can you send a photo of your Tact? I’d like to see what a free scooter looks like. :)
thescooterscoop@gmail.com
16. January 2009 at 10:04 pm
Looks like there is a scooter shop in Seattle that went down with the economy:
http://www.hondabikes.com/
Not sure what the circumstance were though.