Posted on 01/29/2005 1:22:36 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) — Europe is become a key new market for Segway LLC, with a pilot project underway to tie the self-balancing, two-wheeled devices into France´s mass-transportation system and sales picking up, particularly in Italy.
"It feels like we're constantly on back order," said marketing vice president Klee Kleber. "We're constantly rushing shipments over there."
Segway's smallest model is its most popular overseas, a situation opposite to America's, chief technology officer J. Douglas Field said. The smaller model's tires measure 3 inches less in diameter than the larger model's. It also weighs 13 pounds less.
Field said the measurements make the model easier to store and manage in confined areas, trade-offs for its slower speed and shorter range.
"There's no question that the p series, which is a much smaller part of our market here, is really important in Europe," he said.
The pilot program, named the "Oxygen Network," is based in Lille, France, and managed by the Keolis Group, a transportation company with operations in seven European countries and Canada. It features a rental station that lets commuters rent Segways, electric bicycles and other vehicles, adding another layer to the city's mass-transit system.
"There is a different motivation in Europe," Kleber said. "They want to get the cars off the road. They want to get pollution down."
He said European cities, which were designed before cars, also are more Segway friendly. Cars and related expenses such as gas and parking are more expensive there as well, he added.
"It's a totally different transportation environment," he said. "You just don't drive."
The privately held firm doesn't release financial figures, but Kleber said the company's American sales also had doubled in the fourth quarter, fueled by a growing dealership network and a series of promotions, including a free in-home trial offer. The company has about 80 dealerships nationwide, with a goal for roughly 100 overall, he said.
"We have a strategy," he said. "We're still executing that strategy, and it's working."
The machines were unveiled in December 2001. A September 2003 recall revealed only about 6,000 had sold.
Analysts have been skeptical about the company's future, arguing that costs must drop sharply for Segways to be mass-market successes. The devices can cost more than $4,000.
The company remains without a chief executive. Ron Bills, the firm's former president and CEO, resigned late last year for undisclosed personal reasons. A committee of top managers, including Kleber and Field, has been running the firm.
Kleber said the firm is considering several candidates, but the search isn't yet winding down. He predicted the company would choose an executive with experience helping businesses succeed with new products, which he called the firm's top challenge.
"Here's a product that doesn't have a precedent, and therefore requires behavior change on the part of our customers," he said.
The company plans to announce new products in spring. It has offered few details about those products so far, but has said its plans include better batteries to let Segways travel about twice as far and a modified golf-cart Segway. Field has said better batteries would open new options for Segways, possibly including the ability to ride them on trails.
Even "back of the envelope" math shows a golf-cart Segway could be profitable, Kleber said. The machines could let golfers travel to their shots independently instead of using a group cart, he said, helping courses get more golfers through every hour.
If an extra group of four golfers paying $100 each can finish the course each hour, he said, a course could make roughly $4,000 more each day.
"It's very encouraging," Kleber said. "I think it's a very viable option."
Segway : Motorcycle
Manpurse : Wallet
What Italian would choose a Segway over a Vespa? Vespas are sexy, Segways are dorky.
Think $6.00 a gallon and don't even try to drive "downtown".
So9
I wonder when the Islamofascists will start using Segways to deliver suicide bombs in Europe. Even back of the envelope calculations show that they could deliver more suicide bombs at a lower cost to higher concentrations of... you get the point.
..."It's a totally different transportation environment," he said. "You just don't drive...
You got that right = Streets too narrow, no parking, High gas, can't get there from here, cars too expensive, house too small to own anything...
I like my SUV.
That would depend on whether you are watching or driving.
It should be fairly obvious to most that a course earning $100 an hour more per day would need 40 hour days to make an additional $4000. If the reporter is this dense and the PR hack is that stupid I am glad that I haven't invested my money in either company.
If I was running a company, I would want management who knows whether or not we're constantly on back order, not whether or not he feels like it.
Beat me to it, I have yet to even see one of these things.
All of the Mini Motercycles, Motorized scooters, everything else that is "NEW" and not one Christmas Segway.
More Hype than substance (IMHO)
Yes. I remember a number of fine looking Roman women riding sidesaddle on Vespas. The Italian designers made the little Vespa to highlight fine legs.
It should be fairly obvious to most that a course earning $100 an hour more per day would need 40 hour days to make an additional $4000. If the reporter is this dense and the PR hack is that stupid I am glad that I haven't invested my money in either company.
Four extra golfers per hour, at $100 for each golfer = $400 more per hour. Assuming a 10 hour golf day, that's $4,000
...btw, $100 for a round of golf? Are you serious?
That's good news.
Not in Europe.
[I]Has anyone seen one of these things actually being used, as opposed to being demonstrated?[/I]
I rode one in October at a meeting we had in Portland Maine about some issues surrounding the Segaways operating in some of the paved trails around the city.
When they come up with a 500cc. model, let me know.
I think they mean profit of $100 including average sales of beverages and the like for a 4-some.
I saw some footage of President Bush zipping around on one at his ranch ... until he took a spill.
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