EXPO interviews
The word at EXPO... The word at EXPO... The word at EXPO... The word at EXPO... The word at EXPO... The word at EXPO...
HARI SCHWAIGHOFER, URAL MOTORCYCLES Tel 0043 732 245501;
office@ural.at
Creative Bike Wear
One man able to look well beyond the economic woes of the world is Hari Schwaighofer, sales director of Ural Motorcycles, the company based near Linz in Austria and charged with distributing the iconic Russian motorcycle and sidecar combinations throughout Europe. His problems were somewhat more fundamental –
restructuring a production system at the Siberian factory that went into near terminal decline following the collapse of communism. As recently as 20 years ago Ural was producing 130,000
motorcycles a year, but now turns out around 1000 units a year with a workforce that is still too high at 150 but was a heady 500-strong only two years ago. The good news is that demand for the classic flat-twins is ever increasing, with European sales up by 75 per cent in 2012 and US figures up by 32 per cent. “We are in a niche market which is less affected by worldwide economies,” said Schwaighofer. “The problem in recent years was always the production bottleneck at the factory which worked inefficiently. We had demand for more motorcycles than we were able to produce, but that’s improving now that we source many parts from suppliers in Europe. “We use Sachs shock absorbers, Italian ignition systems, and valves and engine internals from Germany and
Switzerland to make historic machines which appeal to people all over the world. Production should grow sensibly at ten to 15 per cent a year for the motorcycles which retail around the £10k mark in the UK.” The UK’s only Ural dealer, F2 Motorcycles in Banbury,
Oxfordshire, sold 15 Urals in 2012. Schwaighofer was exhibiting at EXPO for the second year running, looking for a handful of new dealers to take potential sales back up to the 60-80 it once achieved in the UK. “I think some dealers weren’t sure that we could supply
motorcycles and parts directly from Austria, so we’re back to prove that we really are serious,” he said. “We distribute from Austria to other European countries, so dealing with the UK would be the same for us. It’s no problem.” He offers generous profit margins – for example, the £10,490 Tourist model costs the UK trade £6667.
STEVE PHILLIPS, THE KEY COLLECTION AT FOWLERS Tel 0117 977 0466;
steveph@fowlers.co.uk The Key Collection of clothing, helmets and accessories continues its upwards trajectory with the successful development of the Gear Gremlin range of hard parts and the acquisition of Buffalo leather and textile clothing, Duchinni helmets and Blytz boots just before Christmas. Launched on a smallish scale with 100 line items at last year’s EXPO, Gear
Gremlin has boomed to include more than 500 products in just 12 months. Fowlers senior clothing manager Steve Phillips says the development of
the brand, aimed at both the retail customer and workshop consumption, has been a team effort in which dealers have played an important role. “We saw an opportunity to develop a range and we’ve responded to
dealer feedback,” he said. “Gear Gremlin covers a wide range of products from a £2.49 tax disc holder up to a lock and chain at £140. We’ve also added cable repair and cable tie kits, which have never really been packaged for retail.” Phillips, who designed the range’s striking green packaging, is filling a
marketing niche by supplying touring kits for riders who face potential harassment when travelling through France, now that French authorities insist that motorcyclists must be equipped with two breathalysers, a first aid kit, a breakdown triangle and a fluorescent top. Other neat additions include Dzus fasteners and a decorative alloy fuel filter. “We offer dealers a straight 50 per cent across the board. They get free point of sale material and display stands, and
everyone can be certain that there are no special deals for individual dealers. But this year we will have sales campaigns on specific products which will give dealers extra profit,” said Phillips, who is looking to add to the 70-strong Key Collection network, particularly in the Midlands and south-east.
CHARLES WHITE, MOTOSPORT LTD Tel 01935 472329;
sales@skyteammotorcycles.com
Thirty-five-year industry veteran Charles White, importer of the 13-model Skyteam range of motorcycles, minibikes and retro machines, has passionate views on all aspects of motorcycling. He believes the biggest problem facing the industry is the lack of young riders. “After the Second World War it was common for people to own and ride motorcycles,” he said. “The tradition was then handed down to their kids, and so on. This continued for decades, but ten years ago that tradition faded away and we’ve lost a generation of kids whose parents never owned or wanted a bike. “Parents now want to mollycoddle their kids and, even with petrol at £7 a gallon and car insurance costing more than £3000, they’d prefer little Johnny to have a car because it’s perceived as safer with its four wheels and air bags. “All bike manufacturers must get together and fund a five-year campaign run
by a top line agency with a brief to double the number of youngsters coming into motorcycling. Instead of fighting for scraps of an ever-declining market, they must work together to grow the market and then everyone would benefit,” he argued. “The campaign needs to use social media so that bikes and scooters become hip
again. It’s happened before with the scooter boom in the late 1990s. Kids were going abroad and having good experiences with scooters, so when they came home they wanted to buy one. It can happen again because petrol prices and traffic problems are in our favour, even if the testing situation has been a problem. “But,” he argued, “the manufacturers must have a conference to identify the common enemy and devise a national plan to put motorcycling in the UK back where it belongs.”
40 MARCH 2013
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