It may have been at one time, it’s been a few things. It was almost derelict so a little strange planning was strict
https://www.dmcbirmingham.co.uk/ selling KTM’s now maybe the future after the recent new model reveals
I live in a fairly central London suburb and now my nearest Ducati dealer has moved to 40 miles away. I have Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki/Triumph/Kawazaki dealerships all within 6 milesof my house, doubt my next bike will be a Ducati.
I wouldn't be surprised to see them selling ducati the owners name is claudio tamburini so will tell you his heritage he's irish/Italian and kept a 996r under his stairs for years!! A big ducati fan when he lived here!
I totally agree, both on the liking a smaller less sterile showroom with a chipped mug (but I would prefer coffee over tea), and a belief we aren’t the target audience anymore. I wonder if the fall out from CV19 will make large corporations reassess their demands for the large showrooms with clauses about their brand needing separate areas and all the rest of the daft selfish self indulgent expensive ideas that (in my opinion) add so many costs that dealers are faced with that makes their precious brand undesirable/ unaffordable/ unsellable? A bike sold from a small independent dealer is still a bike sold...
The Manchester model isn't self funded. If you look at Companies House, the funding of their stock is by an outside finance company who hold security over all the bikes they sell.
Stocking loans are a standard method of operating in the motor trade, most medium to large scale dealerships and groups operate that way, nothing to be worried about, its all a magic roundabout and only goes belly up when it stops turning ....
As far as I was aware, Ducati (Italy) are paid by a (US based) finance company the moment a bike leaves the factory and the dealer owes and pays interest to the finance company until the bike is sold when the outstanding debt is settled. Dealer’s stock is verified monthly by an independent stock taker representing the finance company. Don’t know how common this model is but if I’ve understood it correctly, if a dealer goes bust, Ducati has been paid for the stock and the risk is carried by the finance house. Andy
what a shit model for a dealer. Why would you sign up to terms that say you must have bikes, you must pay interest on bikes you won't sell and you must carry all the stock risk!
Clearly works for Ducati but gives a small insight as to why quite a few (UK) dealers walked away, especially when they were required to provide the corporate dealership showroom and facilities, at their own cost. Andy
St.Neots Motorcycles gave up the Ducati franchise years ago, after Ducati demanded unrealistic commitments. Same happened earlier with Honda. Ducati and Motorrad dealerships seem light years away from the old school dealers, that aren't staffed by suits with shiny shoes.
