monsterman
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2011
was having dinner with Chueng who is a major importer of Grey market bikes yesterday in Bang Saen ,,, he says that so far the so called government crackdown has not really affected the big grey importers as much as lack of customers (Farang) and changing tastes ........ ,there is still a niche to fill with parts, spares etc even the Big bike availability of new Hondas ,Kwaks and Ducati leaves big gaps in the market .....
no the biggest issue is changing tastes especially the fall off in HD sales ,he said that between him and other importers and dealers that there are more than 400 late model HDs sitting around in showrooms on consignment and warehouses unsold ,thats a lot of capital tied up and losses ,,expecially big Bagger models , i have seen this in Pattaya , one local thai dealer had 6 mint baggers in stock and he said he has not sold one for 18months , priced from 650,000 up for 2003 models low mileage ,,,,,, sportster models still selling well though,
There is a lack of western farang buyers Eurpoeans and yanks due to economic woes , and the Thais have moved on to new Trends and fads ,,,,,,, sales of big Suzuki GSXRs, Hayabusas ,R1 s are good as The Russians love em so he is bringing in more of them ,he also said less BMWs are being sold as demand from Thais has dropped off due to Trends but also issues with UNRELIABILTY and servicing issue s
I asked him why there are not more small chopper style bikes available like Shadow 750 or 600 as Thais still like the smaller size , he said sourcing these bike is difficult as most are sold in USA and people hang on to them ,,,,also triumphs , every bonneville he gets his hands on has a waiting list ,,,as do Kawasaki W650s or w800s retros ,,,
so its not all bad news ,,,,,but I can confirm that the HD craze in Thailand is fading ,, all 3 of the big pattaya dealers are addmitting very slow sales over the last 2 years . A quick estimate of available HD bikes for sale in pattaya alone came to 84 HDs ,,,
no the biggest issue is changing tastes especially the fall off in HD sales ,he said that between him and other importers and dealers that there are more than 400 late model HDs sitting around in showrooms on consignment and warehouses unsold ,thats a lot of capital tied up and losses ,,expecially big Bagger models , i have seen this in Pattaya , one local thai dealer had 6 mint baggers in stock and he said he has not sold one for 18months , priced from 650,000 up for 2003 models low mileage ,,,,,, sportster models still selling well though,
There is a lack of western farang buyers Eurpoeans and yanks due to economic woes , and the Thais have moved on to new Trends and fads ,,,,,,, sales of big Suzuki GSXRs, Hayabusas ,R1 s are good as The Russians love em so he is bringing in more of them ,he also said less BMWs are being sold as demand from Thais has dropped off due to Trends but also issues with UNRELIABILTY and servicing issue s
I asked him why there are not more small chopper style bikes available like Shadow 750 or 600 as Thais still like the smaller size , he said sourcing these bike is difficult as most are sold in USA and people hang on to them ,,,,also triumphs , every bonneville he gets his hands on has a waiting list ,,,as do Kawasaki W650s or w800s retros ,,,
so its not all bad news ,,,,,but I can confirm that the HD craze in Thailand is fading ,, all 3 of the big pattaya dealers are addmitting very slow sales over the last 2 years . A quick estimate of available HD bikes for sale in pattaya alone came to 84 HDs ,,,
