|
By: Jason Giacchino
Email:
offthepegs@atvsource.com
April 2007 - Off The Pegs
Beyond the Corporate
Juggernauts
Hyosung TE450 |
Last month I talked about the release of
Kawasaki’s KFX-450R and what implications its
arrival would inflict upon the industry. Unlike
the world of performance street bikes,
competition ATVs have pretty much arrived to us
from a single location on the globe. It should
come as no surprise that up until now, Japan has
dominated the ATV market to levels where race
enthusiasts literally have nowhere else to turn.
In 2005 Honda held a majority of the global
market share of the ATV market at 29%, in second
place were both Yamaha and Polaris at 21%,
Suzuki held third with 11%, Kawasaki fourth with
8%, Arctic Cat fifth with 6%, BRP sixth with 3%,
and John Deere came in last with 1%. Before
finding false security in Polaris and Arctic
Cat’s decent rankings in the survey, consider
this: Suzuki has owned well over 30% of Arctic
Cat in recent years (although they are ridding
themselves of stock shares of late) which
explains the company’s willingness to co-brand
many of their ATV models with the American firm.
Polaris, on the other hand, may be a bit more
rooted here on American soil, but their
performance engine development has traditionally
been outsourced. Their 500cc sport entry, the
Polaris Predator, comes equipped with a Fuji
power-plant directly from Japan; and while their
recent merger with Austrian performance
juggernaut, KTM, went to the wayside by 2006
(less than a year after it had started), the
company still produces ATV models powered by KTM
mills.
Not included in the 2005 survey, but equally
noteworthy were Kymco USA and Can-Am (formerly
Bombardier). Kymco’s roots in the motor-sport
industry can be traced back to its founding in
1963 with its headquarters in Taiwan. Even today
it is through a US partnership located
physically in Inman, South Carolina that the
brand is imported then marketed and distributed
domestically. Can-Am, which has been developing
and testing its ATVs in Quebec, Canada has
announced that it too will be transferring
assembly to Taiwan and Mexico by the end of
2008.
Enter Hyosung Motors, a company established
in Korea back in 1978. Hyosung Motors began to
export their own motorcycles to Japan within the
first decade of their existence. By 1988, the
company had passed the 500,000 unit mark of
production motorcycles, 1 million in 1996, and 2
million in 2001. For 2007 the relatively small
(under 500 employees) firm plans to break into
the ATV industry by releasing a three-model line
of quads, most prominent being a
performance-specific 450cc model known only as
the TE450.
While specifics are slow to trickle from the
company itself, press releases have already
begun to circulate claiming that the machine
will come equipped with a five-speed manual
transmission with reverse, electric start, a
four-valve, liquid cooled, dual overhead cam,
four-stroke, putting out a claimed 51
horsepower, and an overall dry weight of 378
pounds. Comparatively, Suzuki and Kawasaki’s
dedicated race quads both weigh in at a claimed
368 pounds.
Even more interesting is that the new TE450
will be co-released with a United Motors badged
counterpart labeled the Moontrax-450R. United
Motors (or UM) is based in Miami, Florida with
roots that can be traced as far back as 1951. In
2005, UM signed an agreement with Hyosung in
which the Korean OEM would offer models and
technology to United Motors to be distributed in
unique color schemes/separate logos and in doing
so completed their product line with engines as
large as 650cc. The result was United Motors
becoming the first full-line manufacturer in the
powersports industry in nearly 30 years. The
relationship was mutually beneficial as United
Motors was able to expand their line without
investing in costly R&D or manufacturing
facilities while Hyosung was able to make use of
UM’s more expansive and already established US
dealership networks. The Moontrax-450R, which is
actually a re-badged Hyosung TE450, is set to be
released stateside later this year as a 2007
model with a retail price of $5,999.
From an enthusiast standpoint, word of this
new model’s stateside distribution is certainly
encouraging news. Competition coming in the form
of Korean imports will only prompt the Japanese
manufacturers to continue to raise the bar with
their proprietary R&D while searching for means
to keep prices competitive. The recent OEM
rejuvenation in terms of the stock performance
ATV segment is only strengthened each time a
manufacturer decides to take the plunge and
become a part of it. As one of the fundamental
principals instilled to us lowly business
students; competition is good. It is good for
the market, good for the economy, and most of
all good for the consumer. As an ATV consumer in
the strictest sense of the word with abundant
eagerness to shred my test track with an
MTX-450R the moment it becomes available, I
would have to agree. Perhaps my professors knew
what they were talking about all along.
For more information on Hyosung, visit:
www.hyosungmotorsusa.com
For more information on United Motors, head to:
www.umamerica.com
|
