American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 244 November 2019 | Page 18

AIMExpo - Columbus, Ohio
BRIEFS September 26-29
NEWS
A lawsuit sheds new light on the
collapse of five Seattle-area
motorcycle dealerships that left
employees without jobs, customers
without bikes, and the motorcycle
community with questions about the
plans and whereabouts of the owner
- one Howard Crow, a Microsoft
program manager turned motorcycle
dealer, whose NobleRush chain of
dealerships was abruptly shut down.
The lawsuit claims that Crow and his
companies failed to make some
payments on bike loans and have
refused to voluntarily surrender the
bikes. Crow's Ducati dealerships,
along with three other dealerships -
a BMW store at the Lake City
location and two multibrand
dealerships in Auburn - have been
shuttered since Sept. 19.
This year's AIMExpo is said to have
seen a combined total dealer/industry
and consumer attendance of 19,358,
with 13,983 consumers and 2,314
recorded as dealers/buyers from 992
individual "unique retail locations";
the remainder of the attendance being
exhibitor booth staff and "associated
industry professionals.x"
All 50 U.S. states were represented by
dealer attendees, with visitors from 55
countries in total. There were 370
exhibiting companies, with 35 total
OEMs represented on the show floor;
The popular Moto Bike Expo
(MBE) takes place again in Italy
from January 16th - 19th. This
will be the 11th year it has been
staged at Verona following its
acrimonious split from Padua. A
combination custom and
'mainstream' show, MBE has the
backing of most of the major
OEs, including Honda, Yamaha,
Kawasaki, Suzuki, Ducati, BMW,
Triumph, Royal Enfield, H-D and
Indian Motorcycle.
Harley was in fifth place in market
share terms in Switzerland for the
first nine months of 2019, having
sold 1,904 units, down from 2,457
for the year ago period. Market
leader in the Swiss market is
Yamaha, followed by BMW and
Honda, with Kawasaki fourth.
In Polaris Europe's home
market, Indian Motorcycle was
in 10th spot in market share
terms in Switzerland for the
first nine months of 2019,
having sold 459 units, compared
to 379 for the year-ago period.
Its top selling model has been
the Scout, the 18th most
popular motorcycle in the Swiss
market with 199 units sold YTD,
down from 212 for the year-ago
period.
Eagle Rider Motorcycle Rentals and
Tours has announced the addition of
the Royal Enfield Himalayan,
Interceptor 650 and Continental GT
650 to its rentals fleet. It will also be
adding the Harley LiveWire at select
outlets soon.
18
830 people were recorded as
attending the Powersports Dealer
Seminars, with representatives of 186
media outlets in attendance.
The organizers have estimated that the
show generated 416,000 social media
engagements and 4.6 million social
media impressions.
The show is slated to return to
Columbus in October 2020,
maintaining its two-day trade and
weekend two-day consumer
attendance formula (1st through 4th).
Many in the motorcycle industry are
hoping that the Expo will 'drop anchor'
at Columbus and make the popular
Midwestern city its permanent home.
www.aimexpousa.com
Bagger Nation Dealer Portal -
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The Paul Yaffe's Bagger Nation
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that is "an important resource
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"The site includes free
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showroom, free to use
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latest from Bagger Nation
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"Instructional videos make
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AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - NOVEMBER 2019
specs and digital instructions,
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exclusive portal-only
promotions, this is the ultimate
dealer profit maker."
www.baggernation.com
www.AMDchampionship.com