On Saturday, I visited one of the area motorcycle dealers to complete the paperwork on a 2015 Kawasaki Concours. That shop is over an hour away from my home and I mentioned to the sales manager that the only reason I chose to buy from them is that they were the only dealer in a 100 mile radius who had bothered to respond to any of my email and telephone inquiries about the bike. He laughed and said the others probably didn’t bother to respond because they didn’t have one of that model and most likely weren’t going to be able to get one. He briefly noted that they had had trouble getting mine and told me to enjoy owning the (for now) only one for “east of the Mississippi.”
Two years ago, I attempted to buy a new Honda and went to the largest of the area Honda dealers. The gentleman behind the counter rather boredly told they didn’t have any and weren’t going to be able to get any…maybe I should come back and try in the next model year but no promises about getting one then, either. I’ve heard similar tales of frustration from friends who were turned away by dealers of other brands, as well.
WRT my new purchase, Kawasaki has had T&E rides for motorcycle journalists. The model features prominently on their website. They are offering rebates on purchases. The only thing they aren’t doing, apparently, is supplying any actual bikes.
How do they make money doing things this way?
They make it up on volume.
Judging by the OP, they’ve sold out their production run. You can’t sell what you don’t have.
Why not produce more? It would require investment in equipment that they don’t feel is cost effective. By the time they get it all set up, demand might drop. Also, scarcity drives up the price they can ask.
In bikes, a lot of the special editions are made just to get a lot of press attention and to get you in the door. Then when it becomes evident that they aren’t going to be able to “get you one of those” the salesman already has enough of a relationship to switch you to one of the more normal (and more profitable) versions. Harley is notorious for this but almost every brand does it to some extent and some car makers are catching on as well.
I don’t know anything about motorcycles, but…
How is Kawasaki doing these days? Suzuki stopped selling cars in the US a few years ago, because they weren’t selling well and investing the time & money required to compete in the American market was apparently too tall an order.
I ran into this in 2009 when I bought Suzuki C90T. I did my homework and decided on that bike. Then I drove to the nearest dealer with my checkbook in hand. They told me they would have to order it, which was not a surprise. However, it took nearly six months for it to arrive. When it finally did arrive, the salesman told me it was only one of seven 2009 models imported into the U.S. and the only one in Texas.
It became obvious that they sold the last of that production run when they didn’t offer the C90 Boulevard for a couple of years. Then they updated the bike (water cooling) and started selling it again.
I’m more familiar with cars than motorcycles, but the truth is pretty much there in the posts so far. The special edition versions are deliberately produced in small quantity, for both economic and marketing reasons, and are intended to be shinies to get you in the door so (most likely) you can be sold a more common model. Whether it’s a California Special Mustang, an Eddie Bauer Expedition or one of six gold-plated Bugatti Veyrons - or a special edition bike - the dealers aren’t going to fall all over themselves trying to sell you, customer [number of models produced+at least 1] something they can’t get.
Most are also good at spotting the difference between someone who walks through the door months after the edition is sold out and says they absolutely have to have that version, and someone who walks in and says, “That Concours edition is cool. Do you have any?” - meaning the sale can probably be converted, making a marketing and sales success.
I found it hilarious, BTW, that some people paid $20-25k to get one of the first Mazda Miatas (Willie Brown was one of them, but that’s a long story) - and people willing to wait a whole 4-5 weeks for the next boatload paid list of $8-9k or so.
A new Miata never had a list price as low as $8-9k.
Stripped versions back in 1989 started at about $14k
My sister bought a loaded version in 1989, and its list price was about $21k
My local Kawasaki dealer is pretty much as you describe. The thing is that they’re really a BMW and KTM dealer that, alas, must stoop to selling inferior Asiatic machines because the troglodytes in this provincial backwater can’t appreciate a truly fine piece of Teutonic engineering. They carry them because they pretty much sell themselves, but the profit margin (and commissions) must not be very high on them because, hoooboy, they act like they’re doing you a big favor by selling you one. Now, if you express vague interest in something orange or with a roundel, suddenly the lost art of customer service is rediscovered and you’ve got a new best friend!
I may be misremembering the actual numbers. In any case, Willie B. paid a whole whole lotta extra to have one of the first ones, when anyone could have one just a few weeks later.
Kaw is doing OK and Yamaha is going gangbusters in most markets. Honda has fallen off a little with most of their market being large touring bikes and trikes. Suzuki has fallen off quite a bit. All the Jap brands got caught when dirt just sort of fell apart. There isn’t that much junior motocross anymore and the old hare-scrambles and desert stuff is fading as well. Most folks going dirt are going serious and KTM or Can-Am or the like. Everything now is “long haul” and “bullet bikes” and Suzi just never found a toe-hold in either…
Years ago when Honda announced the RC-45 my friend went to the dealer to put down a deposit. Each dealer was allocated one. My friend was too late the dealer said somebody was waiting in the parking lot first thing.
Willing buyer and no sale. The dealer tried but couldn’t get another one. So yeah I scratch my head and wonder too.
Well, I think part of all this is that that American motorcycle market is pretty minuscule. We get kind of spoiled by the fact that the US auto market has traditionally been the critical market for international car makers, so the car dealer networks are great and supply issues are virtually unheard of. The US motorcycle market, on the other hand, is about the same size as Germany or Mexico’s and when you consider that fully half of it is taken by Harley that doesn’t really leave much for the international bike companies to compete for. They’re happy to send stuff over from their global portfolios that they think might sell over here, but keeping their US dealers happy and well supplied isn’t exactly a high priority for their business as a whole.