Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/360137
PSB FOCUS 16 • August 11, 2014 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com This issue: Finance & Insurance Next issue: Snow 47.9% 65.2% 56.5% 32.9% 49.7% 48.6% 42.9% 52.1% 34.8% 43.5% 67.1% 50.3% 51.4% 57.1% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% ATV SCOOTER OFF ROAD ON ROAD ON/OFF UTV Grand Total Percent of Units Financed 573,000 units sold during 12 months ended June 2014 Cash deals Financed ADP Lightspeed data shows ATV, UTV sales trend similarly BY DAVE McMAHON EDITOR IN CHIEF A study provided to Powersports Business by ADP Lightspeed shows that of 573,000 new and pre-owned major units sold at dealerships who use the ADP Lightspeed DMS, 57 percent of the deals were financed. The study included dealership transactions from the 12 months ended June 2014. On-road bikes were financed 67 percent of the time, and 52 percent of ATV buyers financed their purchase. That's slightly ahead of the 51 percent of side-by-side buyers who financed their purchase. Dual sport or on/off road motorcycles were financed by 50 percent of buyers. Off-road bikes, meanwhile trend toward cash buyers most often, with only 44 percent of off-road bike purchasers opting for financing. Scooters were financed by 35 percent of buy- ers. PSB BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR Wolf Brand Scooters is one of most recent com- panies to partner with GE Capital Commer- cial Distribution Finance to provide floorplan financing for its dealers. Wolf Brand CEO Diana Hammer explained to Powersports Business how this partnership will help the company's dealers and talked about how the company is faring so far in 2014. PSB: How will this new agreement with GE Capital benefit Wolf Brand dealers? DIANA HAMMER: This will allow Wolf Brand dealers who already have GE lines of credit to add us as a vendor on their existing line of credit, which will allow them to make larger purchases for better floorplanning and availability to their retail customers, and in turn, increase scooter sales. For dealers who don't already have a line of credit with GE Capital, this now allows them to apply for a line and opens the door for growth and expansion. Many dealers would like more scooters on their show- room floor, but their cash flow may not give them the opportunity to order more than 6 or 10 units at a time. This will allow them to carry one of each model and color and open the door to more sales, of course. PSB: Are you seeking more dealers? If so, how many? DH: Wolf has been around the scooter indus- try for many years now, and has gotten a very firm grasp on things like inventory manage- ment as well as parts supply and availability. With those things in place, as well as cus- tomer support and tech support, Wolf plans to become a household scooter brand in the next half decade. With other plans in the pipeline, Wolf feels that will launch them straight up and vertical and in the direction of 400-500 dealerships nationwide. PSB: How is the Wolf Brand product coming along? DH: Wolf has maintained its focus on quality and affordability and believes that they have some of the best economical scooters that the U.S. has ever seen. Our scooters are not only affordable; the quality is actually there. The parts are there; the service is there. All of our focus is on product quality and making it the best it can be while sustaining our low price point. We specialize in serving high-end pow- ersports stores with a product that they can sell to people looking for affordable transportation or just a really cool scooter for a fair price that dealers can stand behind. And dealer profit mar- gins are excellent, which just sweetens the deal. With all of those factors in place, our growth is not only inevitable, it was expected and planned for. We urge dealers to jump on board now, as the brand continues to make a large national impact and territories are going fast. PSB GE offers floorplan financing to Wolf Brand Scooter dealers Source: ADP Lightspeed PERCENT OF UNITS FINANCED 573,000 units sold during 12 months ended June 2014 57% ON AVERAGE, OF UNITS SOLD ARE FINANCED 57%