It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. In Missouri we have laws on the books preventing manufacturers from selling directly to the public as all sales must be channeled through a franchised dealer assigned a specific territory. I can certainly understand Suzuki's motivation for this move as I think the majority of multi-franchise dealers do not represent their brands very well. My local dealer for example represents the big Japanese four plus Polaris and at one time Victory. They only carry a small representation of each manufacturers line and by and large are not very knowledgeable about their brands line up. Further, inventory costs being what they are they can only carry a small fraction of each manufacturers parts inventory. Finally, today many of the powersports dealerships are owned by franchised automobile dealers whose only interest in powersports is as a profit center.
When I first entered motorcycling as a customer and then as an employee, motorcycle dealerships were owned by motorcycle enthusiasts who had a passion for the sport and their product. They usually carried only one line, in my case Honda and stocked a sampling of all of the manufacturers models. As business grew and customers wanted to "graduate" up to a bigger bike, many dealers added on a British line such as Triumph, BSA or Royal Enfield but they also undertook the responibility of becoming knowledgeable about their offerings and stocking an adequate range of parts.
The problem with Suzuki's approach as I see it is that they will likely become another Moto Guzzi or Ducati and only have sales and service at metro locations. This will make it difficult to properly demonstrate and service their products and will discourage many customers from considering Suzuki products.
Your thoughts?
Mike