Crazy prices - I had been toying with the idea of trading my 2015 S in for a 1290 Super Duke R which is at least a couple of grand cheaper. However, I was recently loaned a Kawasaki Versys 1000 while my Mutley was getting its clutch checked out - I'd forgotten how smooth the in line 4 is, and how easy the gearing is (copes easily in 5th below 30mph) so...
The fact is that the £Sterling dropped around 15%. So other things being equal, import prices rise by 15%. This is not an "excuse" - it's simply arithmetic. Can it really be that hard to understand?
So I get a rating of Drama Queen from someone with their rose tinted specs firmly attached to their nose - sad. Then Pete in the post above brings some sense back to the thread.
http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=EUR&view=1Y This shows very little change in pound to Euro exchange rate in last 12 months?
We were in Catalan last week, and friends there said Ducati prices had gone a bit bezerk also. I believe they also still use the Euro there do they not ?
From that chart it shows that it's dropped from 1.30999 on 23rd June 2016 to 1.13486 yesterday. If my maths is any good then that's a drop of 13.36% isn't it?
Prices have been going up and up for years though so it can't all be attributed to Brexit. It's mostly all the R&D and electronics nowadays. Started with the S1000RR and everyone else has jumped on board and thrown the kitchen sink at bikes. We've now got active suspension, TC, different riding modes, fuel gauges etc... it's all got to be paid for somewhere.
I recon they go up every time Dovi or Lorenso bin there bike. Someone's got to pay for the "Development" of the next generation missile.
The UK government must be stealing my pension then because it is paid in pounds into my French bank account in Euros and I have lost €300 per month so far. More rose tinted glasses methinks.
More long-term hopeful. Didn't vote for me, did it for my kids, and their kids... not so you can get more Euro for your money today. Anyway, that's for another thread.
I so want to ask a question about your statement there JH, but I don't want to high jack this thread.
OK, the drop was at the very beginning and in most of the last 12 months, it has hovered. If you look further at a 10 year chart for example, did Ducati drop prices when the rates went the other way ?? I think not, will they drop prices post Brexit when the pound recovers ? I think not..... Something else to consider is global currencies when dealing with the bike prices. Ducati don't alter the price for every country every time a drop or rise of a local currency changes. A large business like this has for example : drops in a UK or Indian currency while USA or China gains etc etc, the business absorbs the shortfalls globally with others that gain. The company can not be constantly altering bike prices for 90 odd countries and currencies they sell to. So I say again, I believe the Brexit/exchange rate bollox is an excuse to hike the prices. Prices have also sky rocketed in several different European countries, where I believe they still use the Euro. Can it really be that difficult to understand ???
I'm sure that Ducati, like lots of other businesses, take a medium to long term view on price and currency fluctuations. However there comes a point when you cant absorb increases any longer and they have to be passed on. It would seem to me that when sterling dropped like a stone a year ago (after the Brexit vote) they didn't do anything and waited to see whether it came back up again. It hasn't and so they have finally had to pass on the cost to the consumer. And let's face it they aren't the only people to have increased prices. Even Poundland are now having to sell certain products at £2 according to the documentary on Tuesday evening. So that's a 100% increase since Brexit (just to save you working that one out)
So did Ducati drop prices years ago when the arse fell out of the Euro long term ? No. Will they drop prices post brexit when the pound recovers? No. The profit margins of any global corporation is large enough to absorb currency fluctuations due to global currency markets varying so much. I work for a company that supplies to every country on earth and this is how they work. But at the end of the day, believe what you will, but at least look at all facts rather than just UK, prices have risen alot all round Europe, and each of those use the Euro. Lastly, look at the price increase, it's not on Ducati Italy's product cost or profit alone, it's on 15% of the uk RRP, have British dealers switched to the Euro as well? Hmmm
@Wayne58 I'm not defending them. It's just my take on things. My business has been subjected to large increases on European raw materials too and to date we have been able to absorb the increases. But it's getting very close to having to do something about it. If you go back a few years the same happened to Yamaha when the Yen took a hit. R1 retail prices went up massively. I know cos I bought mine at the right price, and got the same money as I bought it for when I sold it two years later as the used market had risen with the new market rates. And anyway, if you don't like it you don't have to buy, do you. They aren't holding a gun to your head.
