THE Piaggio Group in association with their local partners, the Alfardan Motorcycle Centre, launched a range of scooters in Qatar at a function on Thursday. Products are being launched under the Piaggio, Vespa and Gilera brand names. The launch was held at the recently opened Alfardan Motorcycle Centre at Khalifa Town.
The products are the Vespa, Piaggio’s three wheeled 400cc MP3 and the Gilera 500cc “performance” scooter which promises to embarrass many motorcycles.
The MP3 is the first three-wheeled scooter, with two wheels in the front which provide “much greater grip and safety than conventional scooters and two-wheelers”.
Gilera will soon be launching the fastest scooter ever made, the GP800, which Piaggio claims will be capable of 200kph.
The Gilera will retail for QR39,000 and the MP3 will go for QR37,000.
Three Vespas of 250cc, 125cc and 50cc are available. These will sell for QR23,000, 19,000 and 13,000 respectively.
The three-wheeled scooters are opening a new market and are aimed at people who have never ridden two-wheelers before _ providing a safe option for beginners because of the stability provided by two wheels in front.
The Piaggio Group’s area manager, Georges Marianelli, said, “scooters are the fastest growing means of individual transportation across the globe”.
Scooters deliver “practicality, fun and leisure in one package”.
“Because of parking and other contemporary traffic issues, scooters are an option that is growing in popularity with people in cities,” he said.
About Vespa, a name which is now synonymous with the scooter, he said: “Vespa is today not only tradition, classic style and fashionable design, it is also state of the art from the technical point of view.”
He felt there was room to grow in Qatar and the Middle East and was confident of the market’s potential.
Marianelli said market share in Qatar or the region is difficult to calculate.
“Unlike in Europe there is no group to assess and gather data from the region.”
The Piaggio official said: “We represent the high end of the market. We are not aiming at this stage to achieve double digit growth in this region.
Marianelli stressed the firm’s effort to “globalise” its presence.
“We have to invest in each country which presents an opportunity. You cannot just produce in the home country and export.”
Marianelli said all products are in line with Euro III norms and said that a new 125cc fuel injection engine will soon join the existing injected engines of 250, 400 and 500cc.
Also present at the function were Robert Zarzour, director of motorcycles and lifestyles at Alfardan Motorcycles Centre, and Roy Burt, chief operating officer, of Alfardan Autombiles.
Burt said: “We welcome another prestigious addition to Alfardan Motorcycles Centre. Our country’s economic outlook is evolving and so are its aesthetic features, a fact that require innovative solutions in transportation. As a pioneer in the vehicles market we look for constant expansion schemes, allying ourselves with world leaders to keep pace with our country’s growing cosmopolitan needs.”
Zarzour said that 2007 was the first full year for Alfardan Motorcyles Centre after its opening in November 2006.
The centre is already exclusive importer of Ducati, KTM and BMW Motorrad.
He expressed his satisfaction at having secured the dealership for an important brand like Piaggio.
Piaggio also includes other names like Aprilia, Scarabeo, Derbi, Moto Guzzi, Ape and others.
In 2007 Piaggio achieved a production of over 600,000 units with sales of E1.2bn across 100 countries. It has plants in Italy, Spain, Chain and India with new plants to be established in Vietnam.
Source: Gulf Times
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