The Italian Icon

[Hugh Janus]

Vespa 300 GTS. (Vespa/)

In 2021 Vespa celebrated its 75th anniversary—and an opportunity for reflection. As both a product and a brand, Vespa is clearly the pillar supporting all of Piaggio (Vespa’s parent company). The Vespa cognoscenti long suspected as much, but now some recent study has made the true standing quite clear.

In order to better understand Vespa’s worth, Piaggio’s top management requested London-based Interbrand, a leader in brand consultancy, to evaluate Vespa’s objective value as a stand-alone brand inside the Piaggio Group. This produced a logical, objective analysis, the kind necessary for future investment planning, especially considering Europe’s tightening environmental norms. And the Interbrand analysis both confirmed and quantified Vespa’s positive image as an iconic projection of Italian creativity, lifestyle, and fashion whose continued evolution has helped it retain a leading image as fashionable, individual transportation.

Vespa’s Assessed Value

A Vespa scooter is much more than just a highly functional city commuter; riding one defines a rider’s individuality and automatically sets him or her apart from the crowd. For the last 20 years, Vespa’s worth has kept growing to the point that the Interbrand analysis concludes Vespa alone is worth 906,000,000 euros, more than all the other Piaggio Group brands combined.

While this is grand for Vespa, and also underlines Piaggio’s fiscal health, at the same time it casts a shadow on Aprilia, which—despite the high quality of its present models—is still fighting for its survival.

Another Piaggio company, Moto Guzzi, is a different story. Still emerging from the low waters of the De Tomaso years, Guzzi is growing steadily, and the new V100 Mandello promises to continue this growth. In any event, if you factor in the loyalty of the Guzzi faithful—particularly evidenced by the Guzzisti who gather in Mandello every year for the firm’s birthday—Moto Guzzi is the second-most passionate motorcycle brand in the world, after Harley-Davidson. Nobody within Piaggio would consider selling or dismissing Guzzi, even if it takes years to return sizable profits.

Piaggio Today

Piaggio is being led by a very capable and competent management team, headed by Roberto Colaninno. They’re devoted and proud of their products, but are also responsibly focused on each brand’s economic and financial mission. No money will ever be invested beyond a safe level unless that business entity shows the potential to produce appropriate income. Vespa has been doing exactly that for years, and looks like it will for years to come.

For the past 20 years, Piaggio’s technical team has focused on improving their bikes’ function and efficiency. The current lineup features power units among the best in terms of output, throttle response, emissions control, and fuel consumption. Vespa’s new chassis features higher structural rigidity, more effective suspensions, and better braking systems. Vespas are safer, easier to handle, and more fun than they’ve ever been, both sneaking through traffic and riding on the open road.

But we know that technical excellence alone is not enough. To that end, and to keep the brand’s image fresh, Vespa has showcased such special editions as the Vespa 946 Christian Dior, and now a new cooperation with Justin Bieber.

19 Million Vespas…and Counting

Vespa has also reached a remarkable goal: Since 1946, it has produced 19 million units. They’re ridden world wide, and the faithful regularly gather in massive meetings. Such affinity and distinctiveness are all part of Vespa’s impressive “brand score.”

Today’s top model, the Vespa 300 GTS, offers solid performance and comfort, but there’s more in store. Here’s one: a new liquid-cooled SOHC four-valve 400cc single. Fully Euro 5 compliant, the new engine is as compact and light as Vespa’s 350, but delivers a solid 35.4 hp at 7,500 rpm. This is a very modern engine, not just an evolution of a dated design. As such, the engineers can’t just shoehorn the new 400 into the present Vespa GTS chassis, but it’s easy to see how a fractional increase to the wheelbase, a stiffer body structure, fatter tires, and upgraded suspension and brakes would create a “Super Vespa” that would strengthen the bike’s image even more.

Vespa’s battery-powered Elettrica has also opened to the company a path into the world of practical zero-emission commuters, and has also created the potential for worldwide partnerships. Looking forward, Vespa’s future may be even brighter than its past already is. Expect a further increase of the Vespa brand value within the Piaggio Group—that is an easy prediction.

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[XTreme]

@Mawsley......this one's for you!

[boboneleg]

I like them , very underrated .  My only concern would be rust, I know a guy who's GTS went rusty on the floor inside the luggage compartment 

[Buckster]