Scrambler Spied

[Speeddog]

It's not a Honda, it's an Acura.

It's not a Toyota, it's a Lexus.

It's not a Yamaha, it's a Star.

It's not a Chevrolet, it's a Cadillac.

It's not a Ford, it's a Lincoln.

It's not a Harley, it's a LiveWire.

[twolanefun]

IMHO it's a silly bunch of posts. It's a motorcycle designed by Ducati, with supplier parts such as brakes, suspension, siwtch gera, levers etc... It's a Ducati and it's as desirable as all the Ducati's I currently own and especially the full throttle version. Garage is full, bank account is low, but Full Throttle, an Indian Scout, and a Victory Magnum would make nice additions. - Gene

[Privateer]

"...I can see a knee-jerk reaction of handbags at dawn, followed by more calculated comments about how one’s own motorcycle is still a real Ducati because it was assembled in Bologna"


you had me at 'handbags at dawn.'  hilarious.

[Dirty Duc]

It's not a Honda, it's an Acura.

It's not a Toyota, it's a Lexus.

It's not a Yamaha, it's a Star.

It's not a Chevrolet, it's a Cadillac.

It's not a Ford, it's a Lincoln.

It's not a Harley, it's a LiveWire.

I don't think the Harley/LiveWire comparison is fair.  It's not like Papa VAG bought Brammo and forced a Ducati design drone to make it sexy.

And the rest of the comparisons are going the wrong direction.  This is like BMW calling a notional sub-1-series... The 2002 by BMW: 5 models available in your choice of nostalgia trim, AC and power steering are optional extras.

There is probably a market for that, but the gimmick is a bit excessive for something that would probably sell just as well (or possibly better) without the expense for the marketing department to out-clever themselves.

Dealers are forced to market the thing The 2002^TM in some sort of corporate wonk's belief that coherence of brand is more important than letting boutique dealers cater to their customers in a local fashion...

[Speeddog]

I'm glad someone noted the 'handbags at dawn'!

[ducpainter]

It's not a Honda, it's an Acura.

It's not a Toyota, it's a Lexus.

It's not a Yamaha, it's a Star.

It's not a Chevrolet, it's a Cadillac.

It's not a Ford, it's a Lincoln.

It's not a Harley, it's a LiveWire.

I guess that's what I don't get.

These companies all are major players. It makes sense for those companies to create a brand to garner a share of the market they don't have.

Why would a boutique brand, with a relatively small market share, create another boutique brand with an even smaller market share? What market share are they expecting to gain?

[Kev M]

I guess that's what I don't get.

These companies all are major players. It makes sense for those companies to create a brand to garner a share of the market they don't have.

Why would a boutique brand, with a relatively small market share, create another boutique brand with an even smaller market share? What market share are they expecting to gain?

MOSTLY, I think it is people in marketing departments and advertising agencies trying to justify their own existence.

I guess there's a time and a place for such reinventing of brand names to try and reach better market penetration.

I remember reading years ago that IN JAPAN Toyota = Oldsmobile in the eyes of the youth. I.E. No one wanted to drive their father's Oldsmobile.

So Toyota carried that concept over to the US and Scion was born.

Personally I think it is stupid. At least with Lexus vs. Toyota even if you were dumb enough not to realize they are the same company you were buying the luxury features (and treatment) of the Lexus dealer. But with Scion what are you buying, a gaudy showroom that's supposed to appeal to kids?

It's like Chevy and Geo back when Chevy wanted to sell imports but was afraid of diluting their own brand (and hindsight being 20/20 they had bigger things to worry about).

Yeah Yamaha did it with their "Cruisers" and came up with "Star" which I take as the dumbest, most disingenuous marketing action I've seen by an otherwise accomplished brand in the motorcycle industry. I mean shyte, Yamaha has things to be proud of, WHY try to distance themselves from it. 

Anyway, my GUESS, is that this is some sort of pandering to either the Italian sense of brand with regards to the fact that these are being assembled in Asia and/or an attempt to put some distance between the main brand of Ducati and this sub-brand JUST IN CASE that Asian assembly thing blows up in their face/is rejected long term.

Like with the Triumph classic line, it allows Ducati's customers time to get used to the concept before the Monster or some other model production is moved there. Which, lets be honest, it's always a danger in this world economy that some country with lower cost of living and more to gain/less to lose is going to supply cheaper labor and an old-world country might decide to farm out manufacturing or assembly there.

[duccarlos]

Marketing departments are not known to be in the same realm as everyone else.

[ducatiz]

I would like this bike even if it was a Harley, provided it was the same bike... :-)

[ducatiz]

I'll just put this right here.

http://tinyurl.com/mbmroa6

wait...

Frames and engines for the Scrambler will still be built in Ducati’s Borgo Panigale factory, and then will be shipped to Thailand for assembly, along with all the other pieces of the Scrambler.

Um.

Frames for Ducatis are actually made in India at the Verlicchi plant in Pune.

I believe they are "finished" in Italy, i.e. painted, but they are cut and weld in Hindustan.

[Curmudgeon]

Monsters have been made in Thailand since that plant opened, so far for the Eastern Market AFAIK.

HELLLLLOOOOO........ Cars and bikes have contained content from everywhere for at least two decades. It's called, "The World Market". In Thailand that assembly and local content saves a HUGE amount of duty in the Far East. Would be DUMB not to do it.

The Thai factory was not built "for" Scrambler. Obviously the economics work and Ducati has the spare capacity. QC on the line is all that matters. The line in Bologna must be building at capacity and new construction THERE would cost a bundle.

Do YOU want to pay for it? 

BTW, got a news flash the other day that my last brand, Land Rover, is considering a plant in the South (USA) just as Benz and BMW and just about everybody else has. Solihull has physical space constraints, so only full chassis vehicles are built there. Unit body stuff moved to a Halewood plant near Liverpool where there was a ton of excess capacity a decade ago. J.D. Power IQS (QC) was excellent BTW. ALL the designs and engineering come from the huge Gaydon R&D facility, as they have for the past 25 years. No doubt the U.S. South was the only way to grow capacity economically although some little stuff may subsequently be assembled in China, for THAT market.

If you want to know about branding, hire Charlie Hughes. 

[jduke]

As ducpainter said, it's a model with different trims. Signs are to attract attention.

[ducpainter]

My '96 Ducati has Japanese parts. It has German parts too. They're most likely better than what Ducati could make. It doesn't bother me, but that isn't my point.

I don't get the re-branding.

I could understand if they were building scooters again, or a product removed from motorcycles...like bottled water.

I don't see the point with the re-issue of a model they made in the past.

As ducpainter said, it's a model with different trims. Signs are to attract attention.

My question is what happens with some of Ducati's dealers that carry multiple brands? If they don't want to 're-model' and devote space to this do they not get the Scrambler? If I was a dealer and they made me spend more money to sell a brand I've already made a sizable investment in I wouldn't be happy. If that's the case this could end up back firing on them.

Maybe Carlos knows.

[Dirty Duc]

My question is what happens with some of Ducati's dealers that carry multiple brands? If they don't want to 're-model' and devote space to this do they not get the Scrambler? If I was a dealer and they made me spend more money to sell a brand I've already made a sizable investment in I wouldn't be happy. If that's the case this could end up back firing on them.

Maybe Carlos knows.

I'd like to know, as the closest dealer is too small to have participated in the most recent Monster Challenge... It's a really small store, and already has Moto Guzzi, Aprilia (bikes and scooters), MV Augusta, Piaggio, Vespa and maybe one other Italian in addition to Ducati.  They only have one or two of some of the brands.

[DarkMonster620]

...
Maybe Carlos knows.

We're dedicating about 9mts2-96sqft to the "Scrambler" brand . . . that's about the size of the room I am in right now in my house . . . and some new signs that say Scrambler . . .one clothes rack and that's it . . . factory is supporting us with a nice % of the cost since we're a "very small dealer"