Fifty years ago Corradino D’Ascanio penned his final design for Vespa, the Vespina (little Vespa) 50. The Vespa 50 was popular among the Italian youth market, spawning future generations of Vespa enthusiasts.

To celebrate the anniversary of this influential scooter, Piaggio Americas is launching a five-week user-generated digital and social campaign highlighting the Vespa 50cc’s influence on the transportation and cultural landscape. Vespa owners and fans are encouraged to share their 50cc stories on Vespa’s digital lifestyle destination lavespavita.com and submit photos via Flickr, Twitter or Instagram by using the hashtag #VESPAVITA. Continue Reading »

Vespa has relaunched its official website, Vespa.com, and will begin accepting bookings online for its new limited edition Vespa 946 scooter. Unfortunately, the online booking will only be available in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

That means those of us in North America will have to settle for waiting for our local Vespa dealers to begin taking orders for the Vespa 946. But those of you in the eligible markets can visit the “Store” section of the Vespa.com site and order their 946.

Available in its current configuration in either black or white until the end of 2013, the Vespa 946 is somewhat of a “halo” model, an exclusive high-end and high-priced model designed to give the Vespa brand a feeling of prestige. Vespa will produce a limited number and then create a new  limited series in 2014. Continue Reading »

Saturday, May 4 marked the 5th annual Quail Motorcycle Gathering in Carmel, California. With such a diverse collection of historical, rare and outrageous motorcycles, the Quail is an event we thoroughly enjoyed attending last year. To commemorate the occasion, this year’s guest of honor was none other than three-time 500cc Grand Prix world champion, and local area resident, Wayne Rainey. Continue Reading »

The Piaggio Group reported an 11.6% drop in net sales for the first quarter of 2013, the result of a struggling economy and unseasonably cold weather in Europe and a flatlining two-wheeler market in Vietnam. There was however some good news in North America, Vespa sales in India and a 27.8% increase in Moto Guzzi sales.

According to the company’s first quarter report, Piaggio reported net sales of 303.4 million euros (US$396.8 million), down from net sales of 343.1 million euros reported the same quarter of 2012. Motorcycles and scooters account for net sales of 181.0 million euros (US$236.8 million), an 8.7% decline from net sales of 198.4 million euros reported in the first quarter of 2012. Overall, the Piaggio Group reported a net profit of 1.1 million euros, compared to 3.2 million euros reported in the first quarter last year. Continue Reading »

April 26, 2013, marks the 67th anniversary of the day Enrico Piaggio went to Italy’s Central Patents Office and filed his plans for “a motor cycle with a rational complex of organs and elements with body combined with the mudguards and bonnet covering all the mechanical parts” which later became the iconic Vespa scooter.

Piaggio created several prototypes of the Vespa – so named for its wasp-like body with a narrow “waist” and wide rear – before coming up with the MP6 pictured above with the help of designer Corradino D’Ascanio and draftsman Mario D’Este.

The public was first introduced to Vespa at the 1946 Milan fair, with sales beginning shortly afterward. Piaggio produced 2,484 Vespa scooters in Italy in 1946 before seeing production jump up to 10,535 in 1948. In 1950, Piaggio expanded sales to Germany, increasing production to 60,000 scooters. The rest, as they say, is history. Continue Reading »

The Piaggio Group reported a 7.3% decrease in net sales and a 9.0% decrease in net profit for 2012, thanks in large part to a sharp decline in demand in Europe including an all-time low for motorcycle sales in Italy.

Piaggio reported net sales of 1.406 billion euros (US$1.842 billion) in 2012, down from 1.516 billion euros in 2011. Motorcycles and scooters accounted for net sales of 993.3 million euros  (US$1.301 billion), a 3.1% decrease from 1.025 billion euros reported for 2011. Overall net profit decreased to 42.1 million euros (US$55.2 million) on the year, down from 46.3 million euros.

The Italian company, which owns the brands Aprilia, Derbi, Gilera, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio and Vespa, sold 406,100 motorcycles and scooters in 2012, a 2.1% decrease from the reported sales of 415,000 units in 2011. Piaggio attributes much of the decline to the weak European market. Continue Reading »

Piaggio launched its Vespa scooter brand at last January’s Indian Auto Expo to much fanfare but sales have fallen short of expectations. The Vespa LX125 launched in Indian showrooms in April as the first new Vespa scooter offered in the country in 13 years, but Piaggio has only sold about 25,000 units.

That might seem like a lot, and would be, for the U.S. market, but in India, it’s a sliver in a market that bought 2.5 million scooters in 2011. Remember, this is a market where some Hero MotoCorp sold a half million units in a single month. Of course, the Vespa LX125 is positioned as a premium product with a relatively high price and limited production. That being said, the new assembly plant in Baramati, India, has a production capacity of 150,000 units this year, with plans to double capacity by the end of 2013, so sales of 25,000 units is disappointing. Continue Reading »

As we count down the days until 2013, it’s time for a look back at the year that was in motorcycles. Here now, is our top ten motorcycle news stories of 2012. Check back for three separate lists, our top off-beat motorcycle news stories of the year, ten news stories to look forward to next year, and the hottest bikes for 2013.

The Piaggio Group announced it has secured a €60 million (US$77.6 million) financing deal with the European Investment Bank to fund the development of new products.

The seven-year loan will fund research and development projects at Piaggio’s Italian facilities. The loan is in addition to investments Piaggio already budgeted for the period from 2013 to 2015 to develop new products. The new research and development projects will focus on three fields: safety, fuel-efficient combustion engines and alternative fuel technologies.

For safety, Piaggio will be working on active, passive and preventative safety measures. This is especially important in light of recent legislation enacted by the European Parliament to make ABS mandatory for motorcycles and scooters with engines larger than 125cc by 2016. Piaggio has already gotten a start toward that goal, gradually adding ABS to models such as the 2013 Aprilia RSV4 R and RSV4 Factory. Continue Reading »

Italian law enforcement agents seized six scooter models from the 2012 EICMA show in Milan, Italy, after receiving complaints they were counterfeits of Vespa scooters.

The six scooters were seized by the Guardia di Finanza, a law enforcement agency operating under Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance whose responsibilities range from combating smuggling and financial crimes to counterfeiting and copyright violations.

Following a complaint by the Piaggio Group, authorities seized the following six models:

• The Roman by the TaoTao Group
• The WL 101Z by Ningbo Wanli Weiye International Trade Co.
• The Luxury by Bertini S.r.l.
• The Reset Ecologic by WRS S.r.l.
• The Miami by E-Tropolis Italia S.r.l.
• The Milano by E-Tropolis Italia S.r.l.

Continue Reading »