Kawasaki Sales - What do you think.??

[MadKaw]

AS a follow up to something I posted on another thread, why do you think Kawasaki is at the bottom of the sales charts this year..??

Reading the YTD sales figures in AMCN Kawasaki is well down the list of sales in most catagories. Considering the ZX10r and ZX6r won the masterbike and many other comparisons this year why are they both at the bottom of the sales charts in there categories... and by a long way... and behind some crappy bikes....

The z750 and z1000 are doing ok in the naked bike sales but there still 3rd or 4th and these bikes have also been rated as the best in the class...

[Bluefly]

Probably because they chose bright green as their signature colour all those years ago. You either love it or hate it, and if you hate it, there's not many other choices in sportsbikes. Most hate it unfortunately.

[Smitty]

coz they don't sell postie bikes to OzPost....

[icebreaker]

Yeah Kawa really need to evaluate their colour choices.. US get colours that would be quite desirable in Aus.

Kawa have dealers like PS, who you try to avoid whenever possible, and this then reflects on the backup sales and support.

Merchandise may be a small factor, but it is one of the easiest ways for people to see that the company is putting itself out there. And compared to Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki Kawa really haven't been doing much to get themselves out there.. They can't rely on the reviews of a bike alone to make them a top seller, the R1/R6 and the likes have been mophing each year, where as Kawa just stuck with the same bike for approx 8 plus years with the same look and style and very little innovation..

Take a look at the rear pillion seat of a Kawa and then at a honda.. It's hinged into place, etc.. It is the little things.. Someone walks upto a bike and things ok. lets look at the practical things, and it might only be 2 hinges and some screws, but if it means that 5 days a week pully a lock and gloves etc don't require removing the seat, and belting the seat back into place.. And the ride doesn't seem that different well it's all apart of the "PACKAGE" and there's another sale lost..

They are finally heading in the right direction.. BUT it is going to take time for peoples perceptions, etc to change... Just looking at the increasing amount of green this year...

It's going to take a good reputation of the last 3 years of bikes to really turn people attitudes with future sales... There are also those that love to get on the band wagon.. And I guess you'll never win them over, but if Kawa and get up there in the motor racing more consistantly, those type of people that are influenced that way may be influenced to turn green...


That's my opinion anyways. *shrugs*


Dan

[Smitty]

Kawa have dealers like PS, who you try to avoid whenever possible, and this then reflects on the backup sales and support.
Dan

PS are no more....maybe there was a good reason to take away their dealers licence....

[red_dave]

I reckon it has a lot to do with motor racing success...

If Shinya has a better year next year, and Bayliss jumps on board, i reckon the Kawa sales will go up. People generally want what's in fashion to fit in and look cool so their buying descisions are adversely affected by things like motor racing success...

An Aussie on a green machine consistently finishing in the top 10... That's pretty emotional stuff for racing nuts and should lift the profile.

[Nanna10r]

Interesting Post Dave & some very well put points by Dan, It's my Experience that Kawasaki draws more Brand loyalty from its owners then any other brand, be it more low key. I think its the Underdog Mentality that is so Australian. This is due to the Fact that they have made some Very Good Bikes, which were not Kept competeive enough due to thier 4 year cycle for new models where the other 3 jap brands usually do a 3 year release. The other factor kwika suffers from is that they spend Bugger All on Promoting their Product through Advertising n Competiton.
My 2cs.
Cheers Brett
PS I see more Kwikas being used daily then any other Make anyone else noticed this ?.

[spekt-r]

The fact that most of the bikes that the kwaks are competeing against have a cult like following already would have a great deal to do with it.
Ask anyone who doesnt know bikes what an R1 is and its likely theyll know.
Already R1's R6's and the like are in their 50'th model year, theyve been out for quite a while now and people know them and are probably upgrading from older models to new. This could also happen with kawasaki riders but remember that upgrading from an aging zx9 or zx7 to a brand spanking new zx10 which is written up as being death on 2 wheels is a little different. Kawasaki have changed their focus from the relatively soft nature of the older zx9's and zx6's to very raw sportsbikes so its not as logical an upgrade as you would think. You must remeber that most people are not like us, they really dont give a rats ass about brand loyalty like we do (and Im an new kawasaki convert) so theyll buy whatever is best for them at the time regardless of brand. Also while teh zx10 is reviewed favourably almost every review I have read has stated that its almost too fast for most riders and I think that a lot of people would be intimidated by that statement and cross it off their list. The only gripe I have with the ZX10 is its physical size, I would like something with just a tiny little more fairing and screen but im still gonna buy one anyway because I love the shit out of kawasaki, if I wasnt a kawasaki nut I would have bought a GSXR, get my point?

[Phil]

after talking to several dealers and people in the industry i see a common theme developing, that theme is the name David Baines.

perhaps now that he's eating his weeties thru a straw someone else will step up to the plate and get things moving in the right direction.

DB was the man responsible for the cessation of the kawasaki racing team in oz, a bad move in my book, win on sunday - sell on monday as they say.

honda and yamaha, and to a lesser extent suzuki seem to advertise a lot more as well.

As far as i'm concerned kawasaki continue to make bikes that appeal to me, the others dont, thats why i ride green.

i, for the life of me cannot understand why the zx10, zx6 z1000 and z750 have not sold more, fantastic looking bikes, all of them. I'd love nothing more than trading the mighty zeph on a z, 1000 or 750 if i had the money.

[aardvark]

Hmmmm....

I hate to bring up the Beemer thing again, but how many of you would buy one? There's my point. Unfortunatley, Kawasaki suffer the same "A Kawasaki? You've got to be kidding" syndrome of the BMW's.

Honda, Yammy and Suzuki have cornered the market, and Kawasaki aren't pushing hard enough to squeeze into that corner.

As for 600 sales. In SA anything from 601cc and above is the same as far as registration costs are concerned. If you are 251cc to 600cc your registration is considerably less. Many people looking for a bike that falls into the cheaper registration bracket will buy something other than the ZX6. I don't know how this effects total sales, but I'd be guessing that it's considerable. This is the reason I don't own anything bigger than a 600. Costs to bloody much.

If Kawasaki want to start selling bikes, then put money into racing, give away free t-shirts and hats, bring BLUE ZX-10's to Aus. Shit, you do whatever you can. Don't worry about dealers being "Kawasaki Only". They only get frustrated and end up selling something else. Encourage all dealers to sell Kwakkas in their line up, and prostitute them off like Yamaha did with the R's.

In a few years time Kawasaki will be able to do like Honda could do at this point in time. If Honda pulled out of racing and started selling bikes from one dealer in each state, they'd still sell bikes.

[spekt-r]

Build it and they will come.
A new ZX7R that is.

[MickLC]

Just a couple of things in my opinion...

From my discussions with people I would say even more people recognise the "Ninja" on my bike than they do an R1.

The type of people buying new bikes all the time are often not the people after the reliable "those engines are built like a brick sh1$house mate" kawasaki's, they want the latest trend...and for my money I'd prefer they stayed on their R1's so I don't get associated with them.

...of course the reliability means they last longer too so the buyers aren't getting new ones every 12 months either.

I also see a lot more Kawasaki's in daily use, but then one of Canberra's biggest dealers is a Kawasaki mob so they have a big marker presence here.

[spekt-r]

The name "Ninja" has applied to most of kawasaki's sportsbikes (and some not so sportsbikes) for the last 10 years, you might as well say people recognise the name Commodore.
An R1 has been a frontline 1000cc motor-psycho since its conception, a little different. Some people are going from R1 to R1 every couple of years or from R6 to R1, like I already said going from an ageing zx-6/9 to a ZX10 is less of an abvious progression as its a different TYPE of motorcycle.
I think some of the other manufacturers are getting compount growth that were missing out on as weve just gone through a bit of a philosophy change, back to the old days of kawasaki when the brand was infamous for phycho machines like were seeing with the current ZX6 and 10.

[James]

I agree with everyones opinions about what is contributing to the problem, I think they all play their part.

Another contributing factor, in my opinion, is the lack of exciting Kawasaki learner bikes available. The ZZR & GPX250's are great bikes, but have remained unchanged forever - the ER5 isnt an excitement machine either (although I loved the one I had!). If Kawasaki released more modern/cutting edge learner bikes, say a 250 version of the 636/ZX10 or perhaps a 250 version of the Z750 & Z1000 then theyd get a lot more learner riders which would increase the brand loyalty. I cant remember the figures, but a large percentage of brand loyalty is developed by a person first bike. Buy a Kawasaki 250 and most likely you'll upgrade to a Kawasaki 600 and/or 750/1000. I think now that Kawasaki has sharpened their bikes in the middle weight and litre classes, a thorough rehash of the learner segment is in order.

[icebreaker]

unfortunetly dude, it's only the gov in aust that's keeping 250cc bikes around...

But an updated 250cc would be nice.. perhaps if kawa stuck with GP, we'd be seeing newer 250's around.. But i highly doubt there's enough money in bothering with 125 and 250cc.. There aren't many new ones around and 90% are second hand and old imports, where bikes are only being recycled to fill a market that is government created... and those purchasing are only looking to keep the bike for 6-18 months, which isn't much of an incentive..