The shattered American dream
No matter how good a brand or product is, trying to make it big in America is never an easy thing to do!
No matter how successful an automotive company is, selling its brand to other countries has always been the answer to real success. Once established in Italy, Innocenti did just that as the Lambretta made its way to mainland Europe. Once it reached the UK there seemed to be no stopping them. Around 70% of all Lambrettas ever exported from Italy were sold in the UK which considering the size of the country is quite remarkable. So you would think to be so popular and well-liked that conquering the biggest market of all, America, would be a piece of cake. Innocenti was determined to do just that and if successful it would have made the Lambretta a globally recognised brand.
Key to all this was setting up the most direct trade link and the nearest that a concession was set up was in Long Island City, New York. This would be the base from where the Lambretta would be distributed. Motorcycle dealers along the length of that East Coast soon became agents, as well as some new businesses catering specifically for scooters. Innocenti realised that there would be no overnight success but was confident that it would soon break into other parts of the country.
The first real attempt was made in the late 1950s with the Series 1 taking up the challenge. Despite moderate sales in some towns and cities, trade never really picked up. Pressure built up on the concession to do better and with the right infrastructure in place, it was disappointing for Innocenti to see such poor sales figures. Determined to succeed the company pressed ahead, not only advertising but introducing new models once they were in production. No matter how much they tried, somehow the Lambretta and scooter concept never quite caught on. With the introduction of the TV200, the most powerful Lambretta to date, it was thought this would finally be the key to unlocking the true potential, but it didn’t. In a last-ditch attempt, a large consignment of SX200s was shipped over to see if it could make an impact on falling sales. Most dealers had given up with the
Lambretta by this time and by 1967 just a few remained. Not long afterwards the concession was wound up, sealing the Lambretta’s fate and sadly for Innocenti its American dream was over. By why did one of the world’s finest scooters fail in what would have been by far its biggest market?
Many companies have tried before and since to crack America and only a few have ever succeeded. Though the Lambretta was a good machine it had its limits. The SX200 was capable of almost 70mph, which seemed plenty fast enough at the time. With a range of around 100 miles on one tank of fuel ample enough as a touring machine, perhaps there lies the answer. One hundred miles in Italy, Europe and certainly in the UK will get you to many destinations. America is so vast that 100 miles there may not get you from one town to another. Let’s face it, back then cars in America were huge-capacity gas-guzzling machines capable of long distances. They needed to be, as driving 300 or so miles to a destination was accepted as the norm. Attempting it on a tiny two-wheeled machine was going to be far more difficult to achieve, let alone how uncomfortable it would be. What about luggage? It seemed every car built had a boot big enough to easily fit a Lambretta in it, so the tiny rack on the back of an SX200 simply wouldn’t suffice.
Those that chose two-wheeled transport would use a huge-capacity motorcycle. Harley-Davidson got it right with their low revving but thumping big engines built for cruising. Compared to a small 150cc two-stroke screaming away, there would only ever be one choice. To prove just how unsuccessful the Lambretta was, many original examples have been found in recent times scattered along the East Coast, still in good running order, but with only a couple of thousand miles on the clock, and some only in the hundreds. This evidence suggests that the idea of travelling far on one soon became redundant. So perhaps that’s where Innocenti got it wrong; though it had a good product it wasn’t suited to the vastness of such a big country.
Quite oddly, Serveta tried the same thing again in the early 1980s and it too suffered exactly the same fate. Again, many low mileage examples exist there to this day, proving the point. So what about Vespa? Could Piaggio have found the answer where Innocenti didn’t? In a way yes it has, by realising the potential of its product. The Vespa does sell in America but only in moderation and will never gain a massmarket there. Perhaps seeing how Innocenti failed has taught Piaggio a lesson. Knowing its limits but realising its strengths. The scooter is an ideal commuter vehicle in any large city and America is no exception. Piaggio now has a network of dealers in many of the country’s biggest cities and it sells well. If Innocenti had taken on the same idea then it, too, may have made a success of it. Sadly that is only a distant dream now and one that got shattered.