Does a poor economy help Ducati sales?

[Cesare57]

I just read where Ducati's worldwide market share more than doubled over the last four years - from 4.something% to 10.6%! Does that mean Duc buyers tend to be more economically secure in these troubled times than say UJM buyers, or is there another explanation(s)?

[Lsberrios1]

Originally Posted by Cesare57

I just read where Ducati's worldwide market share more than doubled over the last four years - from 4.something% to 10.6%! Does that mean Duc buyers tend to be more economically secure in these troubled times than say UJM buyers, or is there another explanation(s)?

It is just my opinion.

I think is that ducati has become cheaper, more attractive to young buyers in the looks dept. and better performers. I feel they are more accessible. Their new line up goes after a broader market with lots of different bikes.

Dont see it as a bad thing but you will certainly see a lot more ducs than you did 7 or 10 years ago on the street.

[hunduc]

Ducati was able to capture the japenese buyer, $13999 or $16k for a duc. All that will be down the drain with the new 1199

[zigy2k5]

Originally Posted by hunduc

Ducati was able to capture the japenese buyer, $13999 or $16k for a duc. All that will be down the drain with the new 1199

What is the price range the 1199 is going to be at?

[sburns2421]

Originally Posted by zigy2k5

What is the price range the 1199 is going to be at?

Rumor is about $19k ($18,695 to be exact) for the base model, and $24k-ish for the S. There is also going to be a tri-color for nearly $30k US.

I think it comes down to Japanese bikes being more expensive while Ducati has been able to keep their cost increases reasonable over the past few years. All new bikes, especially large sportbikes, are expensive.

They are toys not practical transportation. When you can buy a Toyota or Nissan econobox brand new for the same price as a Japanese sportbike (and the car is much cheaper to run overall), the motorcycle is now for recreation.

So when people realize they are buying a toy, it makes it easier to justify buying exactly what you want, assuming you can afford it. As was said, if you can afford $13k for a CBR1000, you can likely afford $16k for an 1198. Or even moving down a bit, $8.5k for an FZ8 and $10k for a Monster 796 would likely be the same buying pool.

[thought]

it's because those numbers are a comparison to a ducati with a much smaller line up of bikes... and only primarily sbk's.

basically, duc's can now cater to almost every genre of the riding community as opposed to being solely focused on one, much like the jap companies. this just gives them a lot more market share compared to their previous market share hence, profit growths.

the issue is that this kind of growth really isnt sustainable as it only jumps like this right when you enter the new market. the next models introduced in the same genre wont bring in the same kind of growth.

[apagios]

I agree with all comments so far about Ducati becoming more accessible, Japanese bikes getting more expensive, and the current lineup being really good.

What I would to add is a question. Are overall motorcycle sales down? Didn't Kawasaki or another japanese brand even skip an entire model/production year? I could be remembering the wrong manufacturer name, but I could have sworn somewhere between '09-'11 one of them didn't change the model line up at all, and simply sold bikes produced in '09 as '10's? I thought the Kawa website had '09's listed and then jumped to '11s.

Anyway my point was that in going with the OP's speculation that Ducati buyers are more financially secure in a floundering economy, if total motorcycle sales were down a lot, then by default Ducati's market share would rise if their sales remained constant or had a slight growth. I think along in with the theory that Ducati buyers are more secure, is that the crowd that normally buys Japanese brands can't afford $13k for an R1 in this economy? (teenagers/relatively young crowd, though that is admittedly a bit of a generalization/stereotyping)

I know when I bought my SS1000ds back in 2005, it was darn close to the price of a new R1. I loved Ducati's and was shocked to find them as "attainable" as a R1, CBR1000, GSXR1000, etc. I reasoned that my passion for Ducati and it being my first bike was an easy choice of clearly more powerful bikes. But I have been kind of surprised by how expensive the Japanese liter bikes have gotten in the past 5-7 years.

[zigy2k5]

Originally Posted by apagios

I agree with all comments so far about Ducati becoming more accessible, Japanese bikes getting more expensive, and the current lineup being really good.

What I would to add is a question. Are overall motorcycle sales down? Didn't Kawasaki or another japanese brand even skip an entire model/production year? I could be remembering the wrong manufacturer name, but I could have sworn somewhere between '09-'11 one of them didn't change the model line up at all, and simply sold bikes produced in '09 as '10's? I thought the Kawa website had '09's listed and then jumped to '11s.

Anyway my point was that in going with the OP's speculation that Ducati buyers are more financially secure in a floundering economy, if total motorcycle sales were down a lot, then by default Ducati's market share would rise if their sales remained constant or had a slight growth. I think along in with the theory that Ducati buyers are more secure, is that the crowd that normally buys Japanese brands can't afford $13k for an R1 in this economy? (teenagers/relatively young crowd, though that is admittedly a bit of a generalization/stereotyping)

I know when I bought my SS1000ds back in 2005, it was darn close to the price of a new R1. I loved Ducati's and was shocked to find them as "attainable" as a R1, CBR1000, GSXR1000, etc. I reasoned that my passion for Ducati and it being my first bike was an easy choice of clearly more powerful bikes. But I have been kind of surprised by how expensive the Japanese liter bikes have gotten in the past 5-7 years.

Yes i think it was Kawasaki that did not change their lineup between 2009 and 2010
You make a good point. Its not that ducati has lowered their prices but that other brands,namely japanese brands, have increased their prices steadly over the last ten years. Also i think motorcycle sales has increased in the last half decade. these two combined has increased ducati's share in the market.

[2001_duc]

I think with the prices slowly coming down over the years and an 848 being pretty affordable you appeal to a much borader audience. Also, I would agree people in the market for a Ducati can choose their riding style now with all of the different models out there now.

[johnny_boy02]

Most of the people I see/meet riding a Ducati are professorial and or fairly financially secure. AKA not that badly hurt by the economy.