Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:08:46 -0600
Reply-To: Jeffrey Olson <jjolson@GWTC.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey Olson <jjolson@GWTC.NET>
Subject: Re: Going towards a new era...
In-Reply-To: <01c301c785d6$3fb2b380$6401a8c0@TOSHIBASamC>
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Remember that marketing is not about selling a product but selling an
idea or vision. There will always be affluent people ripe for being
questioned as to their goals and aspirations, be it around vacations,
retirement, travel. The very issues brought up below are part of a
marketing strategy - higher gas prices, higher miles per gallon
vehicles. As to if you build it will they come - this is all part of
building a market/customer base, a crucial part of any business plan, as
crucial as the product itself. Part of a successful coach business (I"m
brainstorming here) is reasonable price for a quality product. To find
$1400 busses with good bodies, etc., and turn them around for $6000 for
coachwork - who knows if it's possible. Geza's right - it may be a
skewed view I put out here. That's why entrepeneurs with any sense
don't quit the day job right away...
Jeff Olson
martin, SD, part of the flyover zone...
vt wrote:
> My guess is that unless vehicle-related costs for petroleum products come
> way down, the market for highway recreatioal and "camping" vehicles will
> continue to shrink.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Geza Polony" <gezapolony@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
> Subject: Re: Going towards a new era...
>
>
>> Nothing wrong with dreaming, but I wonder if there's any sizeable market
>> for
>> campers like you're describing, especially at higher prices and with the
>> competition from larger RV's presently available. It's easy to think
>> along
>> the lines of "because I like it, everyone else will," but whether
>> there's
>> a
>> real market larger than what Ben and a few other people are serving
>> remains
>> to be seen. Didn't VW try this with the Eurovan, sort of?
>>
>> What seems to be selling right now is large-wheeled, military-looking
>> SUV's
>> with names like "Nitro" and "Armada."
>>
>> As far as price goes, I see tons of late-model, primo Westies listed on
>> the
>> local CL for over 10K...for many months. What do they really sell for?
>>
>> Part of the charm of these, to many of us, is precisely that they ARE
>> cheap
>> rides. That's part of VW bus/Vanagon culture, and it's hard to work
>> against.
>> VW itself has tried, pretty successfully, to dissociate itself from its
>> Volksy roots in the past couple of decades, but the first thing that
>> comes
>> to mind when thinking Vanagon, for most people, is "hippy bus." How you
>> gonna sell hippy buses for $60K?
>>
>> These are the kinds of questions you'd have to answer to potential
>> investors. Building them would be relatively easy. Selling them is
>> another
>> matter. Let alone at a profit.
>>
>> It seems to me that given current automotive tastes, the Syncro platform
>> would be the place to start. That you could market as distinctly
>> different
>> from a VW bus, and go from there.
>
>
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