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."
Thanks for the kind words -- but Segways are NOT the answer. Gas or hybrid powered enclosed vehicles, "mini-cars," if you will, in which you can sit down and drive for many, many miles through any kind of weather at any time of day, are the solution. Segways you ride standing up and wouldn't be so great in the rain or on chilly cold nights. Here, the typical one-way commute is 25 to 50 miles, often more as people must live in less expensive suburbs far away. But I'm glad SOMEBODY agrees that I might have an idea here! I got to drive an SOV once, an electric powered little three-wheeled car called a Sparrow. It was very cool, but not practical because it could only go about 30 miles before needing to be recharged.
You did not note the recall when it was discovered that the Segway battery could run down and cause the control system to fail without the rider being warned. the system should fail "gracefully" and they went back to see if the software could be designed to do this.
Sorry! It ruins my secondary reason for playing golf in the first place. After walking on asphalt and concrete all week, I like to stomp on sod for a while. Restores tranquility to the nerves.
I have seen exactly one person using one. He appeared to be delivering mail at a university hospital. He was going up a fairly steep hill when I saw him.
Also, has the author actually considered that the darn things seem to work by shifting the weight of the "driver"? That would mean that the clubs would have to be carefully balanced on the center of gravity, not just slung over the upright part.
I've seen them at BWI Airport and in downtown DC and, from the look of them, the tires are way too thin to ride down a damp fairway without leaving furrows. If you have to stick to cart paths, then the whole idea of saving time gets shot down pretty quick.
F&G's
You're right, one of those tiny Euroweenie cars would be a better idea than a Segway. Perhaps a maximum size and relatively low speed limit would work? That way, we can have mopeds, Segways, and tiny cars together. Can't imagine those tiny cars doing a lot of harm to a Segway.
I GISed for one of those Sparrows you mentioned... very cute... who would've thought that the third wheel would be in the BACK, not front. How does it handle?
In downtown Fort Worth one of the Bass Hall private security cruises the streets in one.
The Sparrow handled pretty well and went from zero to 60 mph in a heartbeat -- electric vehicles accelerate very quickly. In a freeway setting, Segways would get in the way; they're too slow, too open, too unstable -- they're a sidewalk vehicle. What I'm talking about are single-occupancy cars narrow enough that two can be accommodated side-by-side in, say, a lane-and-a-half (a standard-width car lane would probably be too narrow to safely accomodate two lanes of SOVs). These SOVs need to travel at fairly high speeds, say, 60 mph. Here in Southern California, people are commuting one-way 25 to 50 miles and further. A 20-mph vehicle would be little improvement over freeway rush-hour speeds as it is, and thereby defeat any incentive people might have to opt for SOVs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.