Piaggio have decided that Downend Motorcycles (in Bristol) have too small a showroom so have removed them as new Guzzi sales.
As if the size of the showroom reflected on anything except the ego of some marketing types in Pontadera!
Downend tell me they will still be a service centre for Moto Guzzi and like working on Guzzi’s (and remember they seem to do top notch map updating). I hate when these big corporates push centralised beliefs down onto the guys selling the bikes. Life is hard enough for dealers anyway.
That’s wretched news. Unfortunately for their dealers it’s becoming a numbers game and that is bad news for the smaller shops who can’t afford to discount to attract remote sales.
Who will they appoint to service Somerset, Bristol and Wiltshire, I wonder.
Just plain dumb.
I recall in my Town, first BMW, then more lately Honda demanding designated showrooms to match their brand image in local bikeshops.
The BM’s ended up in the car sales lot out of town, the Honda concession simply lost a presence locally. I’d have to travel an hour now just to look at one.
Guess how many new Honda’s I see locally now.. absolutely none.
