V4 SS on the way

I have been corresponding with Norton about establishing an East Coast presence (dealership in the Northeast). Turns out that they are interested in getting into established multi-line dealerships with a lot of floor traffic, I get that. They did tell me that they will be importing 19 new Nortons into the US for 2018, which makes me wonder if they are serious about making a profit.

Anyway, the V-4 could be the end of them, flying right into Ducati, KTM and Aprilla's turf, and into a time when motorcycle sales in the US are ebbing fast (world wide???); kinda reminds me of the Bimoto effort to develop a DFI two-stroke; the straw that broke its back.

I think the 961 is positioned well for lean years, its why I wanted to sell them, but if you stop feeding the cow you'll get no milk.
 
I would say keep after them. Norton may come around to you.

They did tell me that they will be importing 19 new Nortons into the US for 2018, which makes me wonder if they are serious about making a profit.

Do you mean (a profit) because the number 19 is so low ?
 
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Norton will begin importing 2018 following completion of CARB and EPA certification which is currently underway. Though the dealer network is currently small (4 dealers). You can contact them about placing orders for 2018 models. The V4 will probably not be available in the US until mid or late 2019 as it too has to undergo CARB and EPA certification.
 
TonyA said:
I would say keep after them. Norton may come around to you.

They did tell me that they will be importing 19 new Nortons into the US for 2018, which makes me wonder if they are serious about making a profit.

Do you mean (a profit) because the number 19 is so low ?
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TonyA et al, this is an un-edited copy/paste of what I recently received from Norton UK:

Dear Bill

Thank you for sending the copy of the letter you sent back in 2012 and so
sorry you didn't receive a response!

We are currently restructuring the USA and will be a appointing a new
distributor within the coming weeks with new model year 19 bikes being
available for the US market later in the year. We can then begin the to (sic)
prime the territory with new Norton's once again!

In the interim I have attached our standard dealer application form for you
to complete and return at your earliest convenience.


Best regards
Kay


Kay Johnson
Head of Global Sales & Marketing


Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd
Donington Hall
Castle Donington
Derby
DE74 2SG
United Kingdom

I guess the 19 number may be open to some interpretation, but I would think that, with no dealers on the East Coast, that even a monkey could sell 19 units in a very short time. But, I thoroughly understand that a company like Norton would want to put their products where they would get a lot of public exposure. I am surprised that they haven't done anything on the East Coast where the bulk of the money is, California makes good sense, and is the state that embraced the new Norton first, plenty of money there, but Austin, TX, Chicago, IL and Seattle, WA can't hold a candle to Boston, New York or Washington, DC as a mass market, but I am not a motorcycle marketing wizzard

I will also be looking into E-cycles, but my heart is more aligned with the combustion and mechanical mayhem that goes on inside a real motorcycle...
 
bill
you forgot the south east Fl. is also a huge market with year round riding along with Ga. Ms. Al. La. good for most of 10 months a year.
 
RoadScholar said:
TonyA et al, this is an un-edited copy/paste of what I recently received from Norton UK:

Dear Bill

Thank you for sending the copy of the letter you sent back in 2012 and so
sorry you didn't receive a response!

We are currently restructuring the USA and will be a appointing a new
distributor within the coming weeks with new model year 19 bikes being
available for the US market later in the year. We can then begin the to (sic)
prime the territory with new Norton's once again!

In the interim I have attached our standard dealer application form for you
to complete and return at your earliest convenience.


Best regards
Kay


Kay Johnson
Head of Global Sales & Marketing


Norton Motorcycles (UK) Ltd
Donington Hall
Castle Donington
Derby
DE74 2SG
United Kingdom

I guess the 19 number may be open to some interpretation, but I would think that, with no dealers on the East Coast, that even a monkey could sell 19 units in a very short time. But, I thoroughly understand that a company like Norton would want to put their products where they would get a lot of public exposure. I am surprised that they haven't done anything on the East Coast where the bulk of the money is, California makes good sense, and is the state that embraced the new Norton first, plenty of money there, but Austin, TX, Chicago, IL and Seattle, WA can't hold a candle to Boston, New York or Washington, DC as a mass market, but I am not a motorcycle marketing wizzard

I will also be looking into E-cycles, but my heart is more aligned with the combustion and mechanical mayhem that goes on inside a real motorcycle...
Click to expand...

The email clearly states model year 19 bikes as in the year 2019! Not sure you're doing your sales pitch any good by publishing a confidential Norton email. All my emails from Norton (including Kay) have a clear confidentiality clause at the bottom.
 
bill said:
bill
you forgot the south east Fl. is also a huge market with year round riding along with Ga. Ms. Al. La. good for most of 10 months a year.
Click to expand...

Hi Windy. I wasn't sure how many sparks the geographic part of my previous post would emit. I do know enough about marketing to know when you have a very limited quantity of a hot item you follow the money, not the weather. I'd venture that, beyond esteemed members of this forum, the "average" 961 buyer puts less than 1000 miles on each year, opting, instead, for the comfort of their AMG, M or Porsche to get around. Not withstanding Fort Lauderdale, South Beach or West Palm. Places like Atlanta are "islands of money", once you get beyond the "perimeter" the pickens get pretty slim. Put a Norton dealership in central New Jersey or eastern Maryland and you bid into a market that is 700 miles long and 100 miles deep.
If I was Norton, I'd use the Berger King practice of picking a location---down the road from McDonalds, or, more specifically, I'd be looking for locations near Ducati/KTM/Aprilla dealers, on the East Coast. I will be watching with great interest to see what Norton ends up doing for the East Coast, I wish them well.
 
iwilson said:
The email clearly states model year 19 bikes as in the year 2019! Not sure you're doing your sales pitch any good by publishing a confidential Norton email. All my emails from Norton (including Kay) have a clear confidentiality clause at the bottom.
Click to expand...

She states "later THIS this year"! They could be 2018 or 2019 models, makes no difference when you are speaking about 19 units. And, BTW, I have not signed any NDAs; boiler plate BS at the bottom of any e-mail is meaningless, if the receiver hasn't agreed, in some form of writing, to it in advance, you should know this. There is no way Norton would consider me as a dealer, unless I owned a multi line dealership, which I am too old for, I get that now, and it makes perfect sense for Norton. So I am not about to re-double my efforts to win them over, no sales pitch.
 
lol, not going to argue the point with you but to me at least it's pretty clear she's talking about bringing in 2019 model bikes later in 2018 - not 19 units. But my apologies if I have it arse about face.

You may consider it ok to ignore the disclaimer, but in doing so you're ignoring the senders request - be it legally binding or not. I didn't say it was illegal, just that it wasn't 'good form'. :)
 
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Yup, looks clear to me that they mean they’ll be bringing in 2019 bikes to the US in 2018. Not 19 bikes.

Which is a relief.
 
I'm with Norton on this one. Anybody thinks they could really make a living on selling such a limited production bike is pissing up a rope. 10 units per week for international production isn't going to make anybody rich. Throw a few Nortons in with the exotics (Eurobikes) and the old nostalgic crowd with thick wallets will want it.
 
Just to be clear to all the Norton response reflects the introduction of model year 2019 bikes not 19 bike!
 
Hi,

Glad you like the V4!

Its quite a different bike to the 961 of course, but still core to the brand here, they both represent what we all love about motorcycles just in different ways. I have always said if an R1, GSXR, Blade is a Nissan GTR then we are an Aston, cant really compare the 2.

Its been a monumental task getting the bike here whilst balancing 961 development, which continues to this day and will carry on as long as the bureaucrats let us sell it!

Oh, and of course Kay meant 2019 MY not 19 bikes, looked pretty clear to me.

Simon
 
Had an idea........ could Access Norton create a new forum sub section along side the Classic Norton, P11, 961 etc for V4? It would be cool to get development news off the factory (Simon S), some customer stories and also mix in there some SG7 news out on the Island.

What you think?
 
bpjthornton said:
Had an idea........ could Access Norton create a new forum sub section along side the Classic Norton, P11, 961 etc for V4? It would be cool to get development news off the factory (Simon S), some customer stories and also mix in there some SG7 news out on the Island.

What you think?
Click to expand...
Good idea.
 
V4 SS on the way
At St Pancras international railway station today ,faster than all the trains there
 
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