Vespa rolls out brand-new interactive website
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Nov 13th 2008 at 11:12PM 
Vespa makes some great scooters, but up until today, the Italian two-wheeled wasps were burdened by a rather unwieldy website. It's hard for customers to make informed purchasing decisions when the manufacturer's website doesn't offer the information that's needed to differentiate its wares from all the other options. So, Piaggio, Vespa's parent company, has developed a brand-new interactive website for its line of stylish, metal bodied scooters, and we spent some time talking with Paolo Timoni, President and CEO of Piaggio Group Americas and he took us on a guided tour. Follow along after the break.
According to Paolo, many Americans consider scooters as toys. The reality is that in Europe, where scooters are used extensively, consumers have more than one vehicle in the family and combine the usage of the two vehicles for all of their driving needs. Under circumstances where a smaller two-wheeler will suffice, the gas-guzzler stays at home. To illustrate how much of a fuel mileage difference can be had by choosing the properly sized vehicle, Vespa has created a Why Where and How section that instantly displays the combined mileage of a typical Vespa scooter and another car, from a compact to a
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One single hybrid may be able to provide, say, 40 miles per gallon of fuel efficiency. By adding a scooter to the fleet, an SUV driver could keep their utility vehicle for when it's really needed and could still average over 40 mpg if they use their new scooter half of the time. Of course, that figure improves if the SUV is replaced by a more efficient vehicle, with a typical compact car with 30 miles per gallon combining with the Vespa to offer an average rating of over 50 mpg. Not bad at all.
Another interesting feature of the new Vespa website is called Community and Downloads and allows users to log in and offer scooter-friendly route advice to other riders in their area, who can then share and rate those routes for others. It's meant to be a community and uses Google Maps for its functionality, so individual routes can be downloaded for later use.
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The Vespa brand has been around since the 1940s, so there is plenty of history that the brand can draw from. To highlight this fact, the scooter maker has created a Heritage and History section where lovers of the iconic Italian marque can research past models and advertising campaigns. It's clear that the Vespa scooter was designed to provide a practical, low-cost method for Europeans to get around. After years of successful operations overseas, it seems that the United States if finally ready to get with the two-wheeled program. We've had fun playing around with the new site and imagine that diehard Vespa lovers will find plenty to like and that newcomers will enjoy their new-found education.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BoneHeadOtto 8:39AM (11/14/2008)
I might go to their site if there is a page showing what happens when the Hummer runs over the Vespa. That image on their site makes me not want to purchase a vespa.
They should have a flash videogame on their site where you drive the vepsa around and try not to get killed by motorists in SUVs. Then when you get run over it says something like
"Congratulations you saves $6.11 in gas...want to try again?"
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Matt Groom 10:19PM (11/17/2008)
+1 for Otto
I don't live in a city. I live in a town, like most of America. I work in a different town which is about 11 miles away. I drive on the highway to get there. I cannot drive a scooter. Most of America is in the same boat, that's why scooters are toys. If American towns were built on thousand year old foot paths through ancient farm towns in the mountains, things would be different, but they aren't
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Mishkin-Fishkin 12:08PM (11/18/2008)
I often travel to Florence, Italy, for work. They have terrible traffic and parking problems, so scooters are the natural solution. As a result, you see hundreds of scooters parked on every curb, and roads full of the two wheelers. However, the noise problem is unbelievable. At rush hour, it's like a swarm of angry bees on steroids, non-stop.
I'm sure scooters could be made quieter, especially now that there are more four-stroke models available. But until they are, I don't think they're a good solution. Also, American car drivers will have to be educated about sharing the road with scooters. Otherwise, we're going to have a huge uptick in paraplegia.
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Cindi 12:42AM (12/31/2008)
I agree with your assessment that the 4-wheeled US drivers need to learn to share the road with the 2-wheelers. I believe that because of the gas prices--okay, they're low now but we all know they're going back up--more and more people are going to be adding scooters and cycles to their transportation options. If nothing else, those people are becoming more sensitive about sharing the road when they're in their cars. Let's hope it catches on.
My husband and I purchased identical Vespa GTS 250s in May, 2008, and they became our main mode of transportation throughout the summer. We got great gas mileage--60 mpg--all the while enjoying a quiet, exhilirating ride. Interestingly enough the 4 wheeled people were very respectful of us, more than they were when I was riding my motorcycle.
The only wrinkle in all of this: before purchasing our Vespas, I had read various blogs from Vespa owners across the US complaining about Vespa/Piaggio's lack of customer service. I should have taken those to heart. We've had two serious warranty problems with my husband's scooter, and the company's lack of follow through on messages and emails is deplorable. To make matters worse, they even wrote us in early November promising to reimburse us fully for the scooter and outlining the steps for payoff and reacquisition of the scooter (It's been in the shop since Sept. 11, 2008) only to reneg on the promise Dec. 18th when we called telling them the bank had not yet received the payoff.
Joel Wismer 3:25AM (12/03/2008)
Wow! I'm stunned. I can't believe how negative you guys are about the Vespa. Aren't you just a little curious as to how fun it would be to ride one? I bet if some one lent you one for the day you would change your mind.
Imagine waking up on Sunday morning, getting the wife on the back, going out for breakfast, and then scooting to some place new and enjoying the view. When I think Vespa I think freedom.
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Mark 1:19PM (12/09/2008)
Scooters are generally not used to travel on the freeway but they ARE ideal for short commuting distances or for inner city riding.
Sure they're noisy but is that a reason not to buy one ??
They're much cheaper to run than cars. I'd rather have a "noisy" scooter that delivers 75 miles to the gallon than a 5 series BMW that is silent but only delivers me 20 miles to the gallon.
Mark Kamella-webmaster of
http://www.scooterstoreuk.com
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