The Ducati Diavel seems like the Ducati made for the US.
Based on Italian sports tradition, it is set to cash in on the cruiser fetish of America, providing a more mainstream model for a niche player.
The catch could be the price, though, with A&R reporting from Ducati News Today that the Diavel could kick off at $16,995 on the US market.
That doesn’t seem particularly attractive to us in a market deep in crisis and with a departure from Ducati tradition which may or may not work.
At that kind of price, with Michael Lock in an interview with the LATimes asking how you justify 15,000-dollar bikes no-one needs, we wonder if there isn’t a big question mark over the future of the Ducati Diavel.
Some of what Lock says in his interview is very telling, with comments like:“The challenge for the industry is how do you justify $15,000 motorcycles no one needs if you’re not able to put on the sizzle factor? If you don’t put on the show, you can’t justify people buying the product….
You’re selling something no one needs.
You have to create desire — the whole mental, intellectual and emotional interface of “I’ve got to have it” and that is largely driven by technology but also the imagery surrounding it and the promotion of racing and all of that….
You’re selling the whole lifestyle.
Motorcycle manufacturers will need to sell the experience more, and not just the new technology and colors.
”HFL claims, though, that the Ducati Diavel is ‘Lock’s baby’, so how does it all fit? We can only imagine that Ducati has done its research properly before making the massive investment in an all-new model designed, it appears, to appeal specifically to the US market.
But that doesn’t mean that it won’t be a flop for a sports bike manufacturer in a market still reeling from the economic downturn.
Or perhaps it might turn out to be an exotic niche in a market with limited new product for the new year.
We’ll have to wait and see.