They also have a rather fancy looking V4 Norton in... It's very pretty but too expensive.. (cable clutch !?)
It’s been a year without an authorised Ducati dealer in Sussex. That’s a sizeable part of England for Ducati to give up on because of their (stupid) solus dealer policy – MV Augusta must be rubbing their hands with glee since Ducati’s decision catalysed P&H to stock MV. Ducati has communicated nothing about the situation to its existing customers Is that the ‘Ducati experience’ they want to give their customer base?
Who cares? The ‘real’ Ducati customers now (the influencers and YouTubers) are either picking theirs up from Ducati UK or being delivered to them for the full Audi experience. the other rich Ducati owners who just put the deposits down on the new models and specials will do so over the phone so what’s the point in having dealers in every county? Yes servicing and warranty but I think they are just sales focused now that their bikes never break or have issues
Usually requires a separate dedicated showroom. Not necessarily a separate building though. That's the way that Honda went some years ago anyway.
They don’t just have solus dealers. Many have two or three brands that they sell. The new dealership opening in the north east next month (Vertu) are a BMW Motorrad dealer too. If Ducati have taken a dealership away from someone it’s because the dealer wasn’t prepared to invest in the “brand look”
This was the reason banded around locally a few years ago for CMW in Chichester leaving the Ducati network. They moved on to Royal Enfield etc, but it's not worked out for them and they've now closed. It's a shame because they were nice helpful people.
The big brands able to dictate terms that shrink the margins to bugger all. Especially when there are no guarantees that dealerships won't loose the franchise after making the investment. Economy of scale with bigger automotive dealership networks means they'll tend to take over. Sales will be fine but service will be terrible in most cases, Ducati probably won't care until the majority of their customers vote with their feet/wallets and go elsewhere. The likes of DMC have the edge as they've expanded into a network, albeit Ducati focused. It's sad when the smaller, one location dedicated dealers get pushed out though.
I think there are pressures all round for everyone at a main franchised dealer. The Sales guy who left everyone's favorite Ducati dealer in Winchester recently appears far more relaxed in his new role.
I'm very surprised that a individual that has worked for a dealer for twenty odd years hasn't set up shop servicing in this area as a sole trader undercutting their stupid prices.
The Sales chap is here: https://www.southdownsmotorcycles.co.uk/ Some nice bikes to drool over in the showroom.
I was there today for ten odd minutes looking at that lovely sexy white Triumph on the display platform.
Called into Laguna in Ashford in Kent today. They are in the final throws of shutting their Ducati franchise as Ducati wanted them to open a solus dealership,so another bites the dust. lots of orange and green machines still sold their though.
Ducati’s strategy is stupid. Large geographical areas are losing Ducati dealers because of their inflexible policy about solus dealerships. Needlessly, most of Kent, East and West Sussex won’t have an authorised Ducati dealer. The only beneficiary of Ducati’s idiotic solus dealership policy is their competition.
Yes it’s crazy. I wonder how long they’ll pursue this strategy then give up and put Ducati sites at vag dealerships?
