Ducati Monster Forum

From superbikeplanet

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jan/120120c.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jan/120120c.htm)

"Both Suzuki and Kawasaki cited soft sales worldwide as a reason for withdrawing from MotoGP in the last three years. But their Italian rival Ducati doesn't have such problems - at least in North America.

Ducati North America announced Jan. 19 its motorcycle sales grew 43 percent in 2011, with a record market share in the United States, Canada and Mexico. North America has become Ducati's biggest global market for the first time.

The manufacturer's Ducati Performance line of apparel and accessories also recorded 50 percent growth in 2011."

- Jebus, the little red engine that could. Seems that Italy should elect the team who's running things at Ducati to the PM seat and cabinet.
I'm curious what accounted for the huge leap. I know the Multi 1200 was a big win. But as big as it's been, I can't see that pulling up total sales by 50%. One of the guys at a local dealer said they couldn't get enough Diavels to meet demand. But, again, I can't see that accounting for a huge bump. Anecdotally I haven't seen a single one in the wild, save for the demo bike I had for a lunch run, so there aren't that many about.

Thoughts?

I think the 848EVO was pretty popular as well.

Diavels don't seem to have done all that well here after the initial rush...at least I've only seen a couple on the road and they are available at dealers. The MTS1200 seems to have been very popular though.

MTS and Diavel

I have yet to see a Diavel.

Based on price, I doubt there are that many being sold.

I've only seen one Diavel in the wild, and that was at DiTR.

Economic reports of sales increase in luxury items have been reported over the past year.
Heck, even Tiffany & Co. are reporting record sale #'s. Seems the 1% has good taste.  [cheeky]

I know it seems hard to belive.. but i think it may be the new monsters.  Everyone has one. Im certainly seeing more new monsters on the street that mts or diavels.. I think i read somewhere that ovberall, monsters make up the majority of their sales?

 [evil] If it wasn't for Monster sales, Ducati would have gone bust in the 90's. Fact. My dealer sells 3x more Monsters than anything else.

Per bike and probably total gross sales Monsters have always been the revenue generator of the commercial bike sales arm. Monsters new or old sell well. But even if they are moving 1.5x the monsters of last year that's only one line. 150% sales increase is a cfos wet dream... Just curious where it came from

If North America continues to be Ducati's biggest market going forward...think they'll change their tank materials for us?  ;)

I wonder...were 2010 sales particularly low?
Maybe it was MTS + Diavel + EVO + ABS at no extra cost in 2011?

Here in San Francisco there are a ton of Monsters. I'd say 70% are classic, 30% new gen. I've seen 6 Diavels in the wild, but that's a tiny % of all of the Ducatis zooming around SF.

As far as Ducati's....I see more of the smaller displacement newer Monsters here in the DC area.  Low seat height, affordability, and quality product.  Seems alot of people here in the city like them.

You'd think with sales figures like that they would be more responsible dealing with the tank issue.

[thumbsup]

Tank issue mostly impacts old Monsters. The boom can be related to the MTS and Diavel directly and indirectly. They stole some customers from the HD and BMW crowd. Plus something that liked those new models rolls into the showroom and realizes he can't afford them, but the Monster or SF are also cool. So they "settle" on buying the "lesser" model.

Care to discuss that point on any SC or Multi forum?

Here I see new Monsters and 848's more then I see other Duc's, but in the last 2 years I see an ever increasing number of Duc's across the board.

Why bother?  If people are obviously still buying a defective product....no real point in "fixing it".

I want a new MTS bad.  More so than BJ bought a 999....  but with the way I've been treated by the local dealer, it sure makes it hard to support him or the product which he sells.

Enough that they were sold out last year. I ordered one and had to wait three months for it. Ducati sold over 1200 Diavels in '11.

I'm kind of surprised.  Seems like a lot of Duc dealers have closed their doors the past few years.  ...and this forum is not as active like it used to be.

Which really doesn't mean anything. Ducati has had some lame dealerships, especially the add-ons to multi brand dealerships.  The good dealers are selling the bikes. The dealers with Ducatis on the side and without decent technicians have closed.

I think you are right about less traffic on the board.  Ducati's increased sales aren't from Monster sales. So no surprise we don't see non-Monster owners here.  Also, perhaps new generation Monster owners aren't as interested in the board.  Maybe they mod their bikes less so they are less interested in finding inspiration and sharing ideas. Maybe long term owners are done modding and have less to post.  Not sure.

Maybe they don't come here because of the constant crying about the gas tanks.   How many pages is it?   The same thing for dozens and dozens of pages? 

Ducati is building quality bikes these days.   Sh!t, even my 01 has been dead nuts reliable, at least right up until the starter issue going on now, for about 4 years.   I'd probably buy another.   If we hadn't just bought that damn Escalade, I could buy all kinds of other sh!t.

I read "Boom goes Ducati" and expected a video of somebody's belts going. Glad to see that wasn't the case  ;D

I haven't seen a huge drop in postings, but there is only so many times someone can discuss picking between the Exbox and Boomtubes. I also don't see many owners of the new Monsters customizing excessively, probably that will change as the new model gets more "mature".


 [thumbsup]

Customizing excessively, ain't that the truth.  I'm looking at either a KTM 990 Superwhatever, or a 1200 Multi or Streetfighter.   Pipes and PC are going to be about it.   As far a pouring money into Rizoma this and that, isn't going to happen.   I need that money for tires and whatnot.  Not sure what I'll get, not particularly brand loyal and pretty damned impulsive when I buy something.

Get a metal tank so you won't have to read the 1100 pages about expanding tanks  ;)

Here in the south west of England I hardly see any ducatis only ever seen 1 diavel down here. I suppose the ol Devonshire folk just ain't into there red superbikes.

You're right.  There could be just as much traffic as ever, but I've become a little jaded.  It is hard to get excited over exhaust mods we have seen before.  I pretty much just want to see cool mega projects like TruckinDuc's bike or the 2V engines in a SBK frame projects, or DucStew's work.

I don't think the new Monsters will customize more as they mature.  Things are just different now.  At one time is was just so cool to put a SSA from a 916 onto a Monster.  Now it is no big deal to see a SSA on a new Monster because they come that way.  Plus with this recession fewer people are dropping the money for big mods.  Also dumping carbon fiber all over your bike just isn't as cool in 2012 as it was 10 years earlier.  

BTW, my post count now matches my birth year.  I shall now retire from the board.

I believe it's a combination of both.  People are changing and don't find as much fun in mods like some of us do and the other half simply doesn't care to spend another $10k on a bike that cost $12k to begin with.
Me, well every city I travel to I must find a Duc shop and drop in to "buy" shit I don't need just for fun.

Interesting comment. Our Oklahoma Dealer (BWM/Ducati) was rated as "Ducati dealer of the year" several years ago.  They sure were great dealers, but their service was pathetically horrible.   I was not surprised that they closed their doors several months ago. 

A slumping market can actually be a great time for niche players like Ducati (and BMW) to make an aggressive grab for market share, and Ducati has certainly made the most of it.  In the last few years when the market-dominating Japanese players were retrenching, shuttering assembly lines and sitting on increasingly dated models (and, tragically, getting swamped by a massive natural disaster), Ducati was swinging for the fences with genre-bending models like the Multi & Diavel.

Posting percentage gains like those gets harder and harder the more market share a given player controls, but Ducati's still playing in the single digits as a percentage of the total market, so there's plenty of room to grow.

Here's a good look at the overall motorcycle market for 2011 - http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/first-half-2011-motorcycle-sales-figures/ (http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/first-half-2011-motorcycle-sales-figures/)

Got to be the monsters, it saved them before , the monsters are the one doing the major sales for ducati IMHO [thumbsup]

Ducati has always been able to sell Monsters, regardless of the economy. A 43% increase is more than just selling Monsters. They just grabbed a big chunk of the market share that they did not have before. Simple as that. Selling Diavels to people that would normally buy Harleys does not mean that you'll see Diavels in every corner. Same with GS and Multis.

What I've been tryin' to say...

Every time I'm in my local dealers there always seem to be a few people looking at the Monsters.

Where is Derby when you need him? He would simply "find" a sales comparison from 2010 and 2011 by models. let's put it this way, if that report showed an increase of Monsters sales of more than 15 or 20%, I would be very surprised. Again, I'm not saying that the Monster is not the best selling bike made by Ducati, because it is. But to increase by 43%, you have to sell a shitload of other bikes, including a huge increase in the market stated above. Not to mention that the 848 also sells very well.