Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/687402
Dealership spotlights cameras, communication systems during event BY KATE SWANSON ASSISTANT EDITOR North County's House of Motorcycles in Vista, Calif., has a supreme selection of the latest in high-tech products and gadgets for its customers. To show off its plethora of technology-based products and accessories, the dealership treated its customers to an in- house product showcase. Alex Van Wey, marketing manager at House of Motorcycles, said the point of the event was to showcase the new products available for all bikes. A holiday-season event led to another Tech Night in March that featured the Skully AR-1 helmet. "The primary focus of the first event was to feature the latest and greatest gadgets that we have these days. We had cellular mounts, link systems, action camera systems and action camera accessories," he said. "It went really well. I'd say there were around 100 people and about 50 bikes — primarily sport bike riders." Van Wey gives credit to the dealership's parts associate Isaiah Taylor, who came up with the idea to host a bike tech night. "He initially conceptualized the event," Van Wey said. After a rep from XSories, an action camera accesso- ries brand, came in to showcase the company's products to the dealership, it was clear that they would want to take advantage of the opportu- nity to tell their customers. While the dealership has hosted large vendor expos and bike nights in the past, this two-hour event was more specific and integrated into a bike night feel. On one hand, the dealership had exciting products to share, and on the other, the store had maintained good relationships with its vendors. Van Wey said the decision of which gadgets to showcase was a cross between the product availability and the relationship that the deal- ership has with its vendors. Among the companies represented were XSories, SENA, WASP, RAM Mounts and SHOEI. "We had products we were excited about, and we wanted to let everyone know we had them in stock," he said. "We have a good rela- tionship with SENA, and then Parts Unlimited came to bring their product that was relevant to the tech event." XSories served as one of the main features of the debut event, with its new mounting systems and accessories. Van Wey says XSo- ries' new mini Wi-Fi-enabled and Bluetooth- enabled projection system was a real crowd pleaser. The X-Project Wi-Fi portable mini projector has the ability to project a 1080p high-definition video on any wall, for anything from backyard movies to boasting with friends in the garage. The event included reps from several of the showcased companies, who were available to answer questions and help spread the excite- ment. Parts Unlimited and SENA reps were among those to host a table, and a SHOEI rep- resentative also visited with customers. From a sales standpoint, the event had a positive effect on the dealership. "It was prob- ably the busiest two hours that we had in the entire month," Van Wey said. "We had a cou- ple of bike sales, too. We had people browsing because they came for the event and did even- tually buy." PSB www.PowersportsBusiness.com MOTORCYCLE Powersports Business • June 13, 2016 • 33 Tech night focuses on gadgets, brings sales look to the future with optimism and confi- dence and expect to continue its growth trend. The sales network of the motorcycles manu- facturer now includes more than 720 dealers in over 90 countries and, in the course of 2015, has led to an increase in deliveries in almost all the world regions. North America is con- firmed as Ducati's largest market, with 12,136 delivered motorcycles, an increase of 14 per- cent compared to 2014. In Italy, the company achieved a 53 percent increase in sales for a total of 6,569 motorcycles. Other sales records were achieved in the rest of Europe, where Ducati increased total deliveries by 31.2 per- cent to 21,473 units, with a 24 percent increase in Germany and a 37 percent increase in the United Kingdom. Asia-Pacific area markets also trended well: Ducati delivered 6,502 motorcycles (12 percent increase) in total in these regions, also strength- ening its presence in China, up by 46 percent. Today, Ducati Group has a total of 1,541 employees, with 137 new hirings in the course of the past year and around 100 planned for 2016. PSB DUCATI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 CFO André Stoffels has been part of Ducati's "consis- tently upward growth curve."