Latest gossip on Kymco USA

[CROSSBOLT]

Travelled extensively Saturday for non-scoot reasons but did stop in to Performance Plus motorcycle dealer, one of the good ones, to chat with who is left after they bailed out of Kymco. The general idea was they had 12 scooters they wanted badly to sell but no buyers. Kymco had appointed some woman to head up the US operation in South Carolina and "clean house" or close.
Performance did not wait and sold the 12 scoots back and got out before they got stuck as the consensus was mainly negative that the axe lady was interested in saving the operation.

Now all this is what a couple of key people told me and I trust they are straight since they have been straight with me for several years.

Maybe some of you can fill in this dismal picture better.

[Kansas kymco]

I wouldn't doubt it since they bailed out of Canada.  Kymco has a stigma of being a cheap Chinese Scooter even though it's made in Taiwan.  I hope they can get things together and keep a presence in the United States.

The latest blow to the stock market with the coronavirus  might be the final blow. Forgot to add they had a reorganization of parts distribution earlier this year with large delays in shipping parts my dealer told me about.

[pa-outdoorsman]

Well, this certainly is disturbing. As I've said in other threads, KYMCO USA's biggest failing, IMO, is a near total lack of marketing. They simply never mounted the kind of sustained effort required to gain traction in the highly competitive motorsports world.

[CROSSBOLT]

Well, this certainly is disturbing. As I've said in other threads, KYMCO USA's biggest failing, IMO, is a near total lack of marketing. They simply never mounted the kind of sustained effort required to gain traction in the highly competitive motorsports world.

There are a number of ideas they could have tried to improve their non-marketing plan. But since they subscribed to the NIH (Not Invented Here) plan of business, marketing and parts, there was never any chance of really good ideas seriously considered that was not in the MBA curriculum.

They could have talked to dealers and customers and actually listened to them for some really good ideas. But, hey! What do we know.

[randyo]

my local dealer sells a lot of smaller (kids size) ATVs. They are a multi-brand dealer, Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki/Polaris/Kymco/Honda Power Equipment.  They don't sell a lot of scooters, compared to motorcycles, atvs, SxSs snowmobiles, boats & trailers.

Originally, primarily a motorcycle dealer, but now OHRVs are bigger sellers, especially Polaris side by sides.  I suppose the reason the small 70cc-270cc Kymco atvs do well is cause they are cheap and the kid will grow out of it in a year or two

beyond that nobody even looks at the larger ohrvs, I bought one of the 2 SxSs they had, they nearly gave it to me, they haven't had any since, customers would rather pay $2k more for Honda comparable SxS that has 2" less ground clearance, less horsepower, and overall, less machine.  Or they drive 10 miles down the road to the Arctic Cat dealer and pay $1500 more for a rebadged Kymco

[Kansas kymco]

Don't forget they build motors for some BMW'S as well the 450 and 650. Along with parts for Honda. The people looking for a low cost ride buy the extremely cheap Chinese Scooter thinking there the same quality as Kymco for a lot less money. Look on Craigslist at the flooded markets of these low cost junk under a 1k for a small bike or scooter.  Most people don't know the difference. 

[Neil955i]

Kymco seems a well-kept secret over in the UK too.  Definitely a bargain basement price for top notch engineering and manufacturing, they deserve to do better over here than they do.  I can't fault the finish on my X-Town 300i it's at least as good as my last Honda (PCX125) and in one major respect, the swing arm, it's better!  The PCX's swingarm surface corroded to buggery after one winter's exposure to road salt where the finish on the XT looks as good as new.  Top marks Kymco.

[pa-outdoorsman]

my local dealer sells a lot of smaller (kids size) ATVs. They are a multi-brand dealer, Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki/Polaris/Kymco/Honda Power Equipment.  They don't sell a lot of scooters, compared to motorcycles, atvs, SxSs snowmobiles, boats & trailers.

Originally, primarily a motorcycle dealer, but now OHRVs are bigger sellers, especially Polaris side by sides.  I suppose the reason the small 70cc-270cc Kymco atvs do well is cause they are cheap and the kid will grow out of it in a year or two

beyond that nobody even looks at the larger ohrvs, I bought one of the 2 SxSs they had, they nearly gave it to me, they haven't had any since, customers would rather pay $2k more for Honda comparable SxS that has 2" less ground clearance, less horsepower, and overall, less machine.  Or they drive 10 miles down the road to the Arctic Cat dealer and pay $1500 more for a rebadged Kymco

The dealer where I purchased my UXV 450 is a Kawasaki dealer, and I am sure they sell a lot more Mule and Teryx units than they do the KYMCO side by sides. That said, they usually have a couple 450s and at least one 700 in stock. But yes, they seem to linger on the showroom floor. I purchased my 2018 as a "leftover" in March of 2019, and I now see they have a 2019 model still sitting around that they will probably unload this spring now that it has been significantly discounted. I really wonder what the actual wholesale price to the dealer is on the 450, because if you go on ATV Trader and look at some dealerships down South, they are advertising these things at ridiculously low prices. Anyway, I'm getting off point...

The thing you mentioned that should be at least some consolation for those who own the 450 is that KYMCO is private-labeling these machines for both Tracker and Arctic Cat. So, should KYMCO USA actually cease operation (hopefully NOT), 450 owners should be able to continue to get parts and service so long as Tracker (Bass Pro) and Arctic Cat are still importing them. Basically the entire machines among the UXV 450, the Tracker 500 and the Arctic Cat 500 are the same save for some cosmetic plastics. Interesting that both Tracker and Arctic Cat market their versions as "500," even though all three machines have the identical 443cc engine. And when it comes to price, the difference is amazing. You can get a UXV450 from your local KYMCO dealer for $7,500 or less pretty much any day of the week if you go in and haggle a bit. The Tracker 500S has a "nationwide, no-haggle price of $7,999," while the Arctic Cat Prowler 500 has an MSRP of $9,399, PLUS freight and setup. IT'S THE SAME DAMN MACHINE, PEOPLE!

[Stig / Major Tom]

I walked my multi-brand cycle/scooter/atv dealer floor this morning and came away thinking :

1) if Kymco goes belly up in the States - there are plenty of reasonably priced new 2-wheel rides which could keep me riding for years.
2) scooters are fun - but thinking $ per/cc  - motorcycles are a better value (guys buy scooters and then whine for more power!) **
3) worry started for me when the national on-line Kymco parts house closed
4) no one advertises scooters in the USA - not just Kymco
5) Honda, Yamaha, Piaggio, do not offer but a tiny portion of their models here - it's not just Kymco
6) owning a scooter in the USA is never going to make much sense
7) N American buyers do not give manufacturers any reason to take us seriously
8 ) only oddballs even want to own a scooter in this country

9) I love my scooters - but a motorcycle would do me fine, too
10) I've put aside plenty of consumables for my 8 yr old LIKE200i....but if it blew up tomorrow I figure I've gotten my money's worth out of it.
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** some NEW prices at my dealer this morning
Z650 ABS Kawasaki  $5600
Vulcan 900 $6600
Yamaha 950 $6500

Burgman 400 $8700
Burgman 200 $5400

Yamaha xm300 $6125
Yamaha sm155 $4200

Kymco XT300 $4900

Anyway, hope we get some firm "mission statement" from KYMCOUSA in the near future. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it - as long a Honda keeps selling motorcycles here.

My dealer can order any Kymco atv, but I didn't see any in his large collection of other brands.
He has 5 150cc-and-under Kymco scoots & bikes on the floor.

Stig

[Neil955i]

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** some NEW prices at my dealer this morning

Kymco XT300 $4900

Anyway, hope we get some firm "mission statement" from KYMCOUSA in the near future. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it - as long a Honda keeps selling motorcycles here.

Wow, in which case I got a bargain with my new £3799 XT300.  Normally we pay way more than US prices even allowing for exchange rates!

Take your point on costs of scooters vs bikes Stig, but if that was all we were looking for, we'd NEVER buy a scooter. You know as I do, that there are times / circumstances where a scooter is just the right tool for the job.  I'll keep on with both a scooter and a bike in the garage for just as long as I can.

[CROSSBOLT]

Update: just tried calling Kymco USA. Good news is the answering service is gone! Bad news is no human answered the phone. Hope that means they are really busy. Tried three times to send a message on the official website and it failed three times to transmit.

What I attempted to do was find out some news about the recent changes. Since no one answered the phone, then tried to volunteer and that was a dead end. I will take that as they really do not want to talk with anyone.

[john grinsel]

Home company is big and strong, they probably selected poor/bad importer for US---scooter business is dead in US, too.   Same thing I had new Daelim in Korea recently---great products in the scooter line, their 250,, complete powertrain is Kymco---for US they selected poor/bad importer and since pulled out of the market.

With my 2019 XTown 300I ABS, I have had no trouble obtaining parts, good dealer----price important to me, XTown about half the price of Suzuki Burgman 400 (had 2 new of them) on the road, and Kymco quality fine in my book.  Honda has nothing in US scooter market right now that would fit my needs

[pa-outdoorsman]

I agree with you guys that the scooter market in the U.S. is basically nill relative to motorcylces. But the powersports marketplace seems to be growing, and KYMCO has a very competitive lineup there. I would think that if they put some effort into it, they could really gain some traction. But based on the current situation, it seems pretty obvious that they've chosen not to take that path, but rather partnered with Tracker and Arctic Cat to let them handling all the branding and marketing, while KYMCO simply produces the machines, ships them across the ocean and lets those two companies worry about selling them at a decent profit.

[randyo]

The dealer where I purchased my UXV 450 is a Kawasaki dealer, and I am sure they sell a lot more Mule and Teryx units than they do the KYMCO side by sides. That said, they usually have a couple 450s and at least one 700 in stock. But yes, they seem to linger on the showroom floor. I purchased my 2018 as a "leftover" in March of 2019, and I now see they have a 2019 model still sitting around that they will probably unload this spring now that it has been significantly discounted. I really wonder what the actual wholesale price to the dealer is on the 450, because if you go on ATV Trader and look at some dealerships down South, they are advertising these things at ridiculously low prices. Anyway, I'm getting off point...

The thing you mentioned that should be at least some consolation for those who own the 450 is that KYMCO is private-labeling these machines for both Tracker and Arctic Cat. So, should KYMCO USA actually cease operation (hopefully NOT), 450 owners should be able to continue to get parts and service so long as Tracker (Bass Pro) and Arctic Cat are still importing them. Basically the entire machines among the UXV 450, the Tracker 500 and the Arctic Cat 500 are the same save for some cosmetic plastics. Interesting that both Tracker and Arctic Cat market their versions as "500," even though all three machines have the identical 443cc engine. And when it comes to price, the difference is amazing. You can get a UXV450 from your local KYMCO dealer for $7,500 or less pretty much any day of the week if you go in and haggle a bit. The Tracker 500S has a "nationwide, no-haggle price of $7,999," while the Arctic Cat Prowler 500 has an MSRP of $9,399, PLUS freight and setup. IT'S THE SAME DAMN MACHINE, PEOPLE!

actually it's not quite the same machine, the Arctic Cat does not have the parking brake, and wheels are different bolt pattern ...............you don't even want to know what I paid or rather did not pay for mine, it was a leftover with some scratch damage (during shipping)  The dealership owner who I was doing work for ,discounted it to $5k  I got that + two other used machines, a Polaris Sportsman 300, and Yamaha Grizzly 400 + repair work on my Suzuki V-strom 1000, + cash for some survey work I was doing at his home.  I love barter, my cash outlay is next to nothing

[pa-outdoorsman]

actually it's not quite the same machine, the Arctic Cat does not have the parking brake, and wheels are different bolt pattern ...............you don't even want to know what I paid or rather did not pay for mine, it was a leftover with some scratch damage (during shipping)  The dealership owner who I was doing work for ,discounted it to $5k  I got that + two other used machines, a Polaris Sportsman 300, and Yamaha Grizzly 400 + repair work on my Suzuki V-strom 1000, + cash for some survey work I was doing at his home.  I love barter, my cash outlay is next to nothing

No, the Tracker and Arctic Cat aren't "exactly" the same. But basically, they are. Certainly, they have the same frame, power train and other major components. So, as long as those two brands are still selling and servicing their versions of the 450 here in the States, I feel like I ought to be able to get any engine or transmission parts needed for major repairs.

Your price does not surprise me, actually. As I noted in my previous post, if you go online to ATV Trader, you can find a pile of brand new 2018s for $5,799. That's $1,600 less than what I paid for mine, though I did not find any units like this listed anywhere close to my home in Pennsylvania. If you want to get one of these rock bottom units, it seems they are all down South. I imagine that has something to do with lower freight charges for shipping to part of the world relative to the location of KYMCO USA headquarters. Here's a link to an example. This is the exact make and model of my unit: https://www.atvtrader.com/listing/2018-Kymco-UXV-450I-5001400460

Regardless, I don't lose sleep over it. I am glad you got a great deal, and at $7,400, I still feel I got a very fair deal on my machine. KYMCO was running an extended warranty promotion at the time, so I also have coverage on my machine through March 2022 at no additional cost. I still paid $500 below MSRP and well below what guys are paying for the Tracker and Arctic Cat knock-offs.