ROPALI Motorcycles will begin local sales of recently revived Italian motorcycle brand Lambretta on the last week of June. The company said in a press statement that the initial units of the retro-inspired Lambretta V Special, which will be available in 50cc, 125cc and 200cc, already arrived in the Philippines.
“We are already accepting preorders. We’re just waiting for the stocks to come over,” Ropali Classics operations manager Jon Mirabueno told the BusinessMirror during the recent Ropali and Lambretta’s formal contract signing.
He added that Ropali is also accepting preorders of a Pirelli-inspired V Special, of which only 999 units will be made worldwide, and that the company plans to bring in other models like the classic GP and SX at a later date.
Mirabueno said Lambretta models will initially be available in 10 Ropali dealerships nationwide.
“What we plan, initially, is that we put it in our special shops,” he said. “We’re offering not just the motorcycle, but also the lifestyle [merchandise], so we’ll also be selling Lambretta accessories, Lambretta helmets, Lambretta shirts.”
Mirabueno added that although they have not yet finalized their sales targets, Ropali is “very optimistic” of the brand’s acceptance in the Philippines.
“It’s Class A and B market,” he said. ‘That kind of market is still mostly untapped. So if we’re able to develop that kind of market, the volume would be good.”
Lambretta is expected to directly take on another iconic Italian bike maker in the Philippines—Vespa.
Bagging deal ‘not that hard’
Mirabueno said negotiations between the two companies came about as Ropali sought new products.
“We want to venture out of the box,” he said. “We want to sell something that is by us. So we tried looking at the old manufacturers and, fortunately, we got the chance to meet up with Lambretta because they have just recently launched their new products, so we were lucky enough to talk to [Lambretta International sales manager] Michael Fulton and get the distributorship.”
Lambretta, which was founded in 1947, became a motoring icon for providing affordable transportation following the Second World War. However, parent company Innocenti closed Lambretta’s factory doors in 1972 due to low demand.
The scooters lived on by being manufactured under license in a number of countries and under different brand names.
The brand was reborn as Lambretta GmbH as a result of a joint venture of the Lambretta Consortium in Switzerland and the Austrian KSR Group. The company’s new range of six models was released at the EICMA Milan Motorcycle Expo in November 2017.
Mirabueno said Ropali was fortunate enough to get the deal faster than other local distributors.
“It was not actually that hard because they find our direction the same as theirs,” he said.
Besides selling Japanese motorcycle brands like Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki, Ropali also carries high-end brands like Royal Enfield, KTM and Ural Motorcycles.
Image credits: VJ Bacungan