Re: [ST] What are they thinking

[BrettWilson21@xxxxxxx]

This subject has been covered a lot in recent times Gary and like you there 
are many of us scratching our heads.

To take the other side of the equation and maybe add some perspective, 
consider that Triumph are still a low volume manufacturer. The factory at Hinckley 
is producing bikes at its capacity of around 55,000 bikes per year. So they 
opened a new factory in Thailand with around the same output. (I'm quoting these 
figures from memory). So on a world wide scale 110,000 motorcycles per year, 
comprising the entire model range is not a lot. Talk to any Triumph dealer on 
our little island of Australia and they will tell you that they sell every 
Trumpy they get on the floor. My dealer is selling something in the realm of sixty 
Triumphs per month, often they are sold before they land on the docks in 
Melbourne. And we have a populaton of around twenty one million people.

Yes Triumph are trying to capture more of the American market, but consider 
that with a population of three hundred and fifty millon (or there abouts) 1% 
penetration is a lot of bikes. For instance, when I bought my 675 in December I 
enquired about a black one, only to be told they were not coming to Australia 
this year as there is a huge demand in the USA for them!

So the point to all this is that while at face value it seems crazy for 
Triumph not to be at the bike shows, they are currently selling every bike they 
make. Demand is out stripping supply. If that was your business would you bother 
spending more marketing dollars?

To give you another example - Krispy Kreme Donuts have a policy in Australia 
of not spending ANY money on advertising. They use other methods to get their 
product out there and they are doing very well indeed.

Rest assured, Triumph will be around for a long time and my little prediction 
is that we will see them with a factory backed team in World Super Bikes, 
challenging the dominance of Ducati and eventually in MotoGP. 

My $0.02 AUD

Cheers,
Brett.
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