Brilliant Korea

Don't believe them if they tell you that East Asian bikes must come from Japan...

 
The brand rankings on the Australian motorcycle market have been pretty consistent for a while. It will be no surprise to you that Honda is first, although in a constant tussle with Yamaha, which has been known to take the number one position but usually sits at two. Suzuki is third, Harley-Davidson fourth and Kawasaki fifth.

But things get interesting after that.

In 2005, the next couple of rankings were scooters: Bolwell sixth and VMoto seventh, both on the strength of their cheap 50cc scooters. In 2006, Triumph had leapfrogged them to go from eighth to sixth – and Hyosung had taken Triumph’s place. The Korean brand had doubled its sales and taken eighth place.

The naked GT650 is versatile enough for any use

Who would have thought it? And who would have thought that over the same period, sales of Hyosung’s GT250R would rise by 354 per cent to make it Australia’s best-selling road bike (up to 250cc)*?

Who would have thought it? And who would have thought that over the same period, sales of Hyosung’s GT250R would rise by 354 per cent to make it Australia’s best-selling road bike (up to 250cc)*?

So all of those people who thought it would be hard to sell a Korean motorcycle with an unknown (and almost unpronounceable) name have been proven wrong; Hyosung was a wonderful opportunity. I suspect this particular success story is far from over, as well. A recent opportunity to ride most of the bikes in the range through the hills north of Melbourne showed them to be enjoyable and even exciting at times.

So all of those people who thought it would be hard to sell a Korean motorcycle with an unknown (and almost unpronounceable) name have been proven wrong; Hyosung was a wonderful opportunity. I suspect this particular success story is far from over, as well. A recent opportunity to ride most of the bikes in the range through the hills north of Melbourne showed them to be enjoyable and even exciting at times.

All that’s new from Hyosung for 2007, generally speaking, is black rather than silver frames, an idea we anticipated with our Hyosung project bike, the Nightfighter. But the lack of new models looks like being temporary (there is even a one-litre vee-twin on the way, we’re told) and in any case that doesn’t seem to be hurting sales. Contact www.hyosung.com.au or (03) 9381 9733 for more information.

I wonder what other opportunities are out there that I’ve missed…