Comments from a parts dealer - Copied and pasted from Vespa forum:
"Every belt I've ever taken out of a Kymco looked almost brand new.
I think one of the issues Kymco is having is that they brought everything over, and then were surprised that nothing sold well. They were under the impression Americans don't ride scooters because Honda and Yamaha don't offer many choices. They soon found out Honda and Yamaha don't offer many models because Americans don't ride scooters. Meanwhile, they had to provide parts for all the different Bet and Win, Cobra, People, Grand Vista, Agility, Vitality, Xciting, that motorcycle thing, etc, models they sold a few of. Then came 2008 and the economy tanked. Gas got cheap again, and it got more expensive to do business here, compared to the revenues they generated. Unfortunately, their enthusiasm for the US market waned before they figured out the USA is one big ATV loving machine. Had they come in with the ATVs as strong as they did with the scooters from the beginning, and gradually added different Scooter models people would buy, Kymco would probably have a much better US presence now. "
Stig
