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Aprilia
motorcycles
Aprilia report
Aprilia report
Is the reputation only ruined…
…Live it is not at all unabashed. That is why Aprilia is trying to regain the confidence of motorcyclists. With new, attractive models, good service and a reliable supply of spare parts.
Eva Breutel
04/27/2006
The computer system works perfectly, ”says Hans-Peter Heck from City Roller GmbH in Stuttgart. “I’ll see right away where a part is available, whether
in the European warehouse in France or in the central warehouse in Italy. «He can then tell the customer exactly how long it will take for the fuel pump or the instrument panel to arrive at the workshop. Often the next day, if things are going badly over the course of a week. This system has Aprilia Has been in use for a long time, but only recently have retailers been able to exploit its potential. Because in the past there was a lack of elementary elements, of parts. And if there is nothing to send, even the best logistics will not help. Of course, that had something to do with Aprilia’s financial situation, explains Heinz-Dieter Romanow, Managing Director of Aprilia Germany. “If suppliers are not paid, then nothing comes from them. And when something came, it was needed for the production of new machines. ”
That had consequences. “The shortest waiting time was three weeks, the longest half a year. The dealer never took a new part off the shelf for me, but kindly unscrewed it twice from an exhibit «, wrote Dominik in the Aprilia forum. Many Aprilia customers fared like Dominik. Which didn’t exactly help the brand’s reputation, and certainly not the sales of new motorcycles. User Stierpag said that he hadn’t bought the Caponord after all, because “the shocking reports about the bad supply of spare parts put him off”.
Since April 2004 the bankruptcy escaped, because Europe’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Piaggio the company incorporated, the situation gradually returned to normal. The suppliers got their money, the customers
your spare and wear parts ?? and the
Brand a new image. At the very least, an advertising campaign should achieve that which one has to attest to be conspicuous, if not a sure taste. Aprilia drivers eat flies, cut off their ears or drive to the urinal on Pegaso. And people without Aprilia have to make do with voodoo spells if they don’t want to pierce their bodies with a samurai sword right away.
Despite all the exaggeration of this campaign, it somehow emphasizes the ambitions of the new Aprilia bosses: In a few years ?? is this your scenario ?? the brand from Italy’s hard-working northeast will see itself as the new motorcycle power in
Have established Europe, with racing successes on all terrains and a range of two-wheelers for every taste, from superbikes to mid-range fun bikes to off-road racers ?? a clear declaration of war in the direction of Japan. But in the Far East the fearful tremors should be limited, because the road to a successful Aprilia relaunch is long.
As a result of the financial misery, Aprilia no longer operates as an independent company, but together with Moto Guzzi, Vespa, Gilera and Derbi as another brand of the Italian group Piaggio from Pontedera in Tuscany. The managers there, mostly from outside the industry, have big plans. Piaggio plans to invest 100 million euros in Aprilia by 2008 and develop new motorcycles and engines, especially in the middle class: “This is the segment in which most motorcycles are sold,” says Piaggio Managing Director Rocco Sabelli. “And Aprilia has nothing to show. That must be
change. ”This is how the manufacturer becomes one
General attack in the capacity classes 750 and 850 cm3 start, with fun bikes, enduros and tourers, all with a more sporty orientation, plus large-volume models with 1000 and 1200 cm3.
The basis for the new engines comes from the parent company Piaggio, namely the 500 single-cylinder engine of the X9 scooter. MOTORRAD was able to drive a two-cylinder variant with 850 cm3 four years ago (MOTORRAD 10/2002). While it was a 90-degree V2 with only one overhead camshaft and around 83 hp, sharper versions with two camshafts and correspondingly more power are now being worked on in Piaggio’s in-house engine development center.
A four-cylinder in a V-arrangement is still in the CAD phase, which, according to the will of the Aprilia superiors, will be available from 2008
the colors of the house in the superbike-
WM is represented. As if that weren’t enough, the terrain should also be conquered: the off-road two-cylinder SXV and RXV 450 and 550, so far only available in sharp, highly expensive competitor versions, are being given somewhat more comfortable road designs, and a 250cc Crosser is also being developed. Aprilia boss Leo Mercanti announced a total of twelve new motorcycle models for the next two years alone.
High-flying plans that show parallels to the past. Because even ex-boss Ivano Beggio wanted his company to aim high, to become the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Europe. It turned out differently, although Beggio had created good conditions. In 1968, at the age of 24, he joined his father Alberto’s family business, which manufactured bicycles in Noale, around 30 kilometers northwest of Venice, with 18 employees. Ivano, an avid off-road rider, had 50s and 125s motorcycles built, got into
road racing. As a result, Aprilia established itself as one of a kind
Talent shed for young racing drivers: Max
Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri, Ralf Waldmann and Valentino Rossi had a number of successes on Aprilia; To date, the brand has won a total of 26 world championship titles in the Grand Prix.
Aprilia is now trying again to revamp the image with sporting commitment. An unbelievable 60 drivers are currently active for the manufacturer, 35 of them in the road Grand Prix in the 125 and 250 cc class, and others in the long-distance, supermoto and enduro world championships. In addition, there is active promotion of young talent in an Italian junior GP for 30 pilots up to 16 years old who drive this cup on Aprilia RS 125. “We have to win back the absolute claim to leadership among the young drivers,” says Piaggio managing director Rocco Sabelli self-confidently. Aprilia is spending around 25 million euros on its sports commitment, 50 percent of which is taken over by various sponsors. However: The classes that are so important for the image of seasoned motorcyclists, namely MotoGP and the Superbike World Championship, are currently missing.
The commitment in the small classes certainly promotes scooter sales, which is still Aprilia’s most important mainstay. The Italians built 110,000 vehicles in 2005, 25,000 of them motorcycles, most of them rather small. At the moment Aprilia seems far removed from the aspired big bike business. That should be
change, however, as Piaggio man Sabelli emphasizes: »We didn’t buy Aprilia to strengthen the scooter business, we are already building them at Piaggio. We want
Motorcycles. «To some extent it is already working. Heinz-Dieter Romanow from Aprilia Germany reports a 38 percent increase in large motorcycles for the first quarter of 2006. “We sold more mille than the Kawasaki ZX-6 or ZX-10.”
Romanov also points out that Aprilia now offers a four-year guarantee on all large motorcycles. That doesn’t scare the Stuttgart dealer Heck. “If the product quality stays that way, that’s not an issue. After all, technology and workmanship are in no way inferior to the Japanese standard. On the contrary. ”Are he more worried ?? and Romanov too, by the way? the gray imports, the prices of which are far below what Aprilia Germany can hold. “Something has to be done urgently because it has something to do with the Italian sales structure,” says Romanow, the official importer. He points out that there are large middlemen in Italy who like to serve not only the national market.
Selling more large motorcycles, that was already the goal of the previous owners
Ivano Beggio. A contract he signed with BMW in 1992 proved to be helpful: Aprilia manufactured the F 650 ?? a tremendous image boost, because the single cylinder was long considered the BMW with the most meticulous finish.
Again, BMW could do the Ita-
lienern get back on their feet. In
a hermetically shielded hall at Aprilia’s headquarters in Noale, BMW has the new singles developed ?? three models, including hard enduro and supermoto. BMW ordered modernized production facilities for production next year.
At the end of the 1990s Aprilia built around 350,000 vehicles per year, had a turnover of around 500 million euros and employed 1,500 people. The company’s first big bike, the RSV Mille, got off to a promising start in 1998, won comparative tests, and received international awards. When Troy Corser was on the road to success with Aprilia in the Superbike World Championship, the triumph seemed unstoppable.
Then Beggio took over and in 2000 bought the ailing motorcycle brand Moto Guzzi. Their renovation devoured huge sums of money and blocked capacities at Aprilia. The demand for RSV Mille and the like did not take on the hoped-for proportions, especially since Aprilia, known for its successful design in scooters, totally missed the public’s taste with motorcycles like the tourer Futura. In 2001 the Italian scooter market collapsed completely, Aprilia went into a tailspin and could no longer pay suppliers. In the spring of 2004, the banks refused any more
Loans, Beggio threw in the towel.
The banks rejected a takeover offer from Ducati, and so Piaggio got involved in August 2004 and initially helped Aprilia out of its worst needs with a financial injection of 20 million euros. Piaggio, in turn, had a new owner at the end of 2003, the financier and ex-boss of Italian Telecom, Roberto Colaninno. Together with Rocco Sabelli, who is also from outside the industry, he now heads the largest two-wheeler group in Europe.
The brand boss is Leo Mercanti, 48, who had worked at Aprilia since 1982 and was promoted to general manager, but the company did so in mid-2001
?? not necessarily by amicable agreement? left. With him, other technicians and engineers returned to Aprilia at the beginning of 2005, who, like Mercanti, had in the meantime spent the winter at the Piaggio subsidiary Derbi in Spain. Ex-owner Ivano Beggio now lives secluded in his villa in Veneto and no longer appears in public ?? that too a certain loss of image for Aprilia: Beggio, with his rather rustic management style certainly not always an easy employer, gave Aprilia a face and transferred his passion for motorcycles to employees and customers.
Today Aprilia is governed in a rather cool and business-like manner, the Piaggio bosses are keeping an eye on the IPO of their entire group in June. The “passione”, which is so important in Italy, is missing, complain some of the around 1150 Aprilia employees. Instead, the bureaucracy has found its way with a variety of forms and questionnaires, which has always been a trademark of the Piaggio Group.
Cautious optimism is germinating among dealers in Italy, after all a small increase was recorded, but only in the scooter area. The supply of spare parts there was also significantly better than in previous years, which contributed to customer satisfaction. However, retailers are currently seeing cause for new fears.
The spare parts management for Aprilia has recently been controlled from the Piaggio headquarters in Pontedera, which could endanger the laboriously built logistics again. Dealers have to say goodbye to the highly acclaimed Aprilia system ?? “It’s user-friendly and I can always get in there straight away,” says Heck from City-Roller ?? and get along with the new Piaggio software. “It comes from SAP,” explains Romanow.
But new models, spare parts supply: In order to iron out its slack, Aprilia first has to get down to business and deliver new models, successes in racing and good service. Only then will customers decide whether the beautiful picture that the Piaggio bosses envision of the Aprilia future will actually become reality.
Collaboration: Michael Orth and Norbert Sorg
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