American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 251 June 2020 | Page 30

In addition to its massive performance, service and custom own brand hard parts programs, Zodiac International sells for more than 370 third party brands - over 300 of them American. Its warehouse is 50,00 sq ft (5,000 sq m) and it supplies over 40,000 individual part numbers, and have close to half a million parts in stock at any one time. In addition to its multi-lingual catalog and monthly dealer news email programs, Zodiac has sales offices in the UK, France, Spain/Portugal, Italy, Germany, Hungary/Austria and Scandinavia/Finland. getting smarter about it now, and our guarantee policy sets us aside. "Consumers don't get that from the cheap knock-offs. Even all our Taiwan made products have a two-year guarantee and an increasing amount is now being made for us here in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the EU, so we continue to keep control over the quality - from design, to materials to manufacturing. "Zodiac is not just a warehouse, it is way more than just a wholesaler where shipping is done, not a so-called box-shifter," says Vincent. "There is a lot more than that going on here. We are a distributor in a niche market, so being intimately involved in that niche market, being a part of it, is an important part of our culture and an important part of what our customers buy into. It is an important differentiator for us." Zodiac delivers all over the world, and the latest catalog has now also been released in Spanish, as well as German, French, Italian and, of course, 'Zodiac is not just a warehouse' we can assure our dealers that all the parts we sell that are used on them can be sold and used with confidence. "Our product development means that we can confidently and competently deal with any warranty claims or repairs and can even offer our dealers a complete training center, including the most modern test bench." For many years Zodiac has been the 'go to' for vendors such S&S, among others, able to operate in-house training for dealers which can run from theory lessons to many practiceoriented teaching materials such as complete engines to work on and adjusting fuel injection systems on a dynamometer. For S&S, VP Sales Paul Devine stated: "S&S has always valued the support that Zodiac is able to give to its dealers and the S&S product line - we know dealers value it, and we value being able to have that kind of relationship with one of our longest established distributors." Going back to the problem of product counterfeiting, we asked Vincent if Zodiac has big issues with imitation products from China. "That has not been so bad for us in recent years. Of course, a lot is faked and sold cheaply through various websites. But the fit and quality are so notoriously bad, with no support at all, that people are English. "This has meant a real spike in our sales not just in Spain, but also to Central and South America." Vincent says that the Zodiac brand has "real status and meaning with the Harley-Davidson parts, accessory and performance aftermarket. That was always apparent when we used to hold our dealer shows and parties. There really is a strong bond between us and our dealers. With other distributors it is just about buying and selling parts. With us it is also about how to use those parts, how to add value for the end customer and how to help them get to enjoy their motorcycles more. "Plus we have an excellent reputation for standing by the products we sell - our guarantees are known to mean something and dealers and riders know that there is expertise to repair, service and refurbish the parts they buy from us, right here in Europe regardless of what brand they are and regardless of where they have come from originally. They know that we will 'make it okay', and that wherever the parts come from, we are their local support." ZODIAC INTERNATIONAL BV Mijdrecht, NETHERLANDS Tel: [phone] [email protected] www.zodiac.nl 30 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - JUNE 2020 www.AMDchampionship.com