Business – Didier Cazeaux: “Voxan will be profitable from the first financial year” –

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Didier Cazeaux: "Voxan will be profitable from the first financial year"

Business - Didier Cazeaux: & quot; Voxan will be profitable from the first financial year & quot; -

A jovial and tanned little man, almost nonchalant – but nevertheless the 179th fortune in France – Didier Cazeaux today embodies the revival of French motorcycles after having enabled Guy Couach’s yachts. He believes in Voxan and he explains why.

Jovial and tanned little man, almost nonchalant – but nevertheless the 179th fortune in France – Didier Cazeaux today embodies the revival of French motorcycles after having enabled Guy Couach yachts to revive. He believes in Voxan and he explains why. Moto-Net interview.

Why did you decide to take over Voxan ?
Until five years ago, I only worked in the service and I decided to take an interest in the industry, to see, because it is an environment that I did not know and that I wanted know. As luck would have it, it came across Couach (read), when I was initially moving towards the manufacture of doors and windows! Guy Couach boats were extremely pleasant, especially since I was also a customer of them, so it makes things easier when you know the product. Voxan arrived in the same way, through various contacts. Motorcycles have always interested me, I have always had motorcycles, and Voxan was the only French company to manufacture motorcycles as Guy Couach was the only one to manufacture boats. I may have seen a snub there, and also a pleasure to try not to let Voxan die.

What are your strengths and those of Voxan ?
I have no doubt that in two years, everyone will say that I still had a lot of chances by taking an easy place, but a year ago, there was no war at the Commercial Court of Clermont for take over this business, which made my life easier! Thanks to the experience I was starting to have, I had a good chance of saving Voxan and it would have been a shame not to try to correct this real incomprehensible curse that is plaguing the French motorcycle. And then, a motorcycle is above all an engine and Voxan is one of the very few manufacturers to have attacked the subject with its engine, whereas many start with assembly, which in my opinion is systematically doomed to failure. . Being passionate about mechanics, this engine was a strong element in my choice. I would not have taken over Voxan without them having a specific engine and without having the broad support of the staff who remain in the plant..

What are your goals ?
Voxan makes 1000cc which behave like 125s, which are no problem for anyone, which are capable of very high performance without brutality, so the brand is very well positioned. We’re going to produce 800 machines this year, maybe a little more, but our bigger goal is to keep up with dealer demand. It would be illusory of me to tell you that we will make 2,500 motorcycles next year and 10,000 the following year. What is certain is that it will take us three years to have a correct and consistent rise in power. 2003 will therefore be the year of the relaunch of production, 2004 that of development and in 2005, we will be able to assess our control of production and customer demands. Because Voxan is a star, but the stars only live from their audience !

What diversification of the range do you envisage ?
You know, you don’t have to mix things up in life. This is a job that has just been undertaken and the first very serious meetings will take place before the end of the month. For a long time we will remain attached to the 1000cc V-twin, which is our engine. I think that the notions of displacement will gradually fade to give way to notions of user-friendliness, ease of use, etc. We are going to go further with this well-born engine, which has certain capacities – we think of 125 hp without any problem – and we will be able to develop variants around the same chassis-engine concept. Our range will remain focused on 3 basic models in the current spirit, but with all the possible variations: around the Cafe Racer maybe a Cafe Racer Plus, around the Scrambler maybe a Touring Scrambler, and from the Roadster everything is possible. Without forgetting the VB1, which will henceforth be produced entirely in-house by Voxan. We can do pretty much whatever we want from our positioning, from a hypersportive machine to a touring bike, with almost the same specific parts. The hypersports market will decline in power, like the automotive market which is now evolving more towards leisure 4x4s or minivans than towards Lotus or Ferrari … which I deplore somewhere, but that I agree with ‘somewhere else ! Anyway, we will be at the Motorcycle Show in Paris and you will discover something new there. And maybe even two…

What motorbike do you ride ?
I seriously shortened my MV F4 in a traffic accident in Arcachon! I had never had an accident in 16 years of driving and I was very lucky … I admit that for the beauty of the object, I would have bought one if the brand hadn’t not really experienced serious problems. And when in Italy a brand has problems, it may not be like with us and they are certainly very serious problems! Today I have a Scrambler since day 1, orange like the one that just came out this morning, because that’s the one I like. It is a machine of wonderful versatility, capable of doing all-terrain, road and city conditions in exceptional conditions. It holds the road well, it brakes well and it has more than enough power to have fun with it. It is a rare device !

What is your breakeven point ?
Voxan will be profitable from the 1st financial year! It is a rule that I have in my companies. If Voxan wasn’t profitable in the first fiscal year, she would be doomed to death somehow in the long run, and that won’t happen. I took over the Couach company in 1996 and it was profitable from the first year when the challenge was much more difficult than here. Really more difficult! Industrialization has been Voxan’s only problem. The machines have proven to be very reliable after a year and a half without very extensive maintenance, despite sometimes high mileage. We have invested 2.5 million euros to resume production between June 2002 and April 2003. All of our operating schedules have so far been respected to the nearest month. The planned tools allow us to make 5,000 machines per year. So, normally, we will last in this business! Today we have an extremely large clientele potential and I would like to thank all the clients who have supported us, who have kept their machines and have shown an unwavering attachment to the company. The Voxan Club de France was also very active during this difficult period.

What do you think of this draft displayed in the entrance of the factory ?
This is a study that we certainly will not do, because it is very chopper-type and the market is not very choppers. But it shows, as we told you, that we have projects full of drawers…

What if you had a magic wand ?
I am not very playful and I do not believe too much in these things … I will be very annoyed to have to choose, unless I have the possibility of formulating 67 different wishes! On the other hand, if you offer me the fairy who holds the magic wand, I do not say no !

Eric MICHEL

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