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DUCATI 1098 HITS THE SHOWROOMS |
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Wednesday, 24 January 2007 |
DUCATI 1098 HITS THE SHOWROOMS
When the new Ducati 1098 was launched in Kyalami in South Africa, the bike was
universally acclaimed by the UK and World press.
Now that acclaim has turned
into unprecedented interest and demand for Ducati’s latest Superbike.
In
the first few days of the year Ducati dealers had been taking orders at the rate
of over 30 per day. Overall UK orders are currently over 500 and rising by the
day, 60% of which are ‘S’ models with the rest made up of the standard model and
the limited edition ‘Tricolore’.
1098S is sold out until late May/ early
June; 1098 orders are now being taken for April, and customers wanting to
purchase the limited addition ‘Tricolore’ will have to wait until May for
delivery.
There was an incredible level of interest at the recent 1098 UK
launch weekend at Ducati dealerships; despite foul weather conditions throughout
the UK the public turned out in huge numbers.
At many dealerships
customers were waiting outside in the rain for the doors to open and at other
stores car parks were overflowing as customers queued just to get into the
showroom - at one dealer the volume of people in the showroom meant groups had
to take it turn to see the bike.
Many dealers have never seen so much
interest in one machine by any manufacturer. At Ducati Glasgow customers queued
up to put deposits down, and over 20 1098s were sold during the launch weekend
to add to the 14 sold prior to Christmas.
At Ducati Leeds proprietor
Charlie Jagger was equally pleased ‘I have never seen in 30 years as a
motorcycle dealer the showroom as full on the launch weekend, and also never
known a motorcycle to have such a strong and immediate impact. On the launch
weekend I sold 10 bikes in one day and since the first bike arrived here we have
sold another 44 and the demand shows no signs of dropping off.’
Ducati
Glasgow and Ducati Leeds have now taken orders between them for nearly 100 1098s
in less a month.
It was not only in the North that the bike was capturing
the imagination: at Ducati Aylesbury, owner Phil Bailey also said ‘Not even the
916 caused this much interest, I have never had a motorcycle that has captured
the imagination of the public like the 1098 and never have we had so many
forward orders for a bike, the 1098 has definitely put Ducati back as the No.1
sports bike manufacturer’.
Phil Jessop, the owner of Riders of
Bridgwater, summed up the success of the 1098 so far, ‘The bike is awesome, if
you don’t put a deposit down soon you won’t get one, at the current rate of
sale, within 2 weeks we will have sold out from now until June’.
Although
demand is currently very high, dealers are still taking orders and the factory
is making every effort to reduce lead times as the year goes by. All UK dealers
currently have a 1098S demonstrator and will happy to arrange test rides.
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