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Scout 60 Australian price!!!

6.4K views 35 replies 19 participants last post by  ChrisC  
#1 ·
Hi All.

I was excited to see the Scout 60 as a product and it looks good. I was also pleased to see the price drop on the Scout 60 in the USA, as it a $2000 price drop which makes a difference and it would here to. $8999 USD equates to just under $12,500 AUD. Add a bit for shipping makes the bike a good price? Or does it?

What the good folk at Indian/Polaris here in Oz have done is raise the price on the 1133cc Scout from $17,995 ride away to $19,995 ride away and make the Scout 60 $17,995 ride away.

Come on Indian/Polaris. Yes I know we are a little further away but that sucks.

I thought you might have been serious about making the Scout 60 a competitor for the Harley 883 or the Yamaha Bolt here in Oz but the Harley sells for under $15,000 ride away and the Bolt Rspec for $13,500 ride away. Yes I know it is not a big market but you would have got a lot more sales by having the Scout 60 priced under $15,000. You will make heaps on the extras the same as Harley does you just need to get the basic bike out there at the right price.

Anyway that's my 2 cents worth.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Something is not right here. Is the rest of the world paying for the good price of Sixty's in the US? Pretty much smacks of that to me. And that is wrong.
Alpal
 
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#4 ·
Yeah, it seems like Indian isn't showing much pricing love to its fans down under. I agree that the 60 should be cheaper. I never really understood how different exchange rates worked that seemed to be totally independent of the relative buying power of either currency and fluxuate based on who only knows what.
 
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#6 ·
I imported 6 brand new Gold Wings from USA to Australia back in the 90's... Saved about $5000 a bike. I sold them all at cost to mates,,,

I didn't try it with Indian because I wanted the warranty, which you don't get on personal imports.

But, now that the Chiefs and Scouts appear to be holding up well mechanically, might be worth revisiting the import option.
 
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#8 · (Edited)
I work for a company which works to reduce the unemployment compensation tax rate which the employer pays. We have an ongoing "claim of the day" contest.

Down the sandbar from us in Merryland, there's a modular home manufacturer. Almost quitting time one windy day, Pete hustled up to his foreman all breathless, saying: "Boss! You gotta come see this!" Out to the parking lot they go, Pete leads the foreman to Billy Bob's pickup truck. In the back, under the corner of a tarp which the wind lifted is a counter top just like they install in their modular homes. In the passenger side seat is a clipboard with a checklist -- they snatch it up -- all the pieces that go into one modular home -- this, that, and the other thing checked off going down the list. Foreman goes to confront Billy Bob. By now a couple other guys are tagging along to see the show. Billy Bob, when cornered, denies everything. So they all pile into the Foreman's pickup truck, Pete, Walt, Eddie... and away they go to Billy Bob's rented farmhouse, bringing the checklist with them. There in the back yard they discover a big pile of parts under a blue tarp... all corresponding to bits checked off on the list. True story. Billy Bob was stealing a house. One part at a time.

So they fired him. Now, here's the part of the story which proves that's it's true:

Form comes from the state. Why'd Billy lose his job? Theft, they mark down. Benefits denied. Billy Bob appeals, denying everything. Foreman, Pete, Eddie, Walt all attend the appeal hearing to bear witness.

"Why'd you fire Billy Bob?"
"He stole."
... insert whole story here
"Did you have a conviction in a court of law at the time of discharge?"
"What? By that time he'd have stole the rest of the house!"

Billy Bob collected.

Image


I forgot to add this bit:

In Merryland, if the modular home factory had fired BB for "unauthorized use or removal of company property", they would have been fine. But to can a thief for stealing, you first need a conviction. This sort of thing occurs because, with government, form always supercedes function. Hence, businesses like ours.
 
#9 ·
Australian pricing is on par with European pricing. No reason to be paranoid in Australia, well at least about Indian pricing.
 
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#10 ·
European pricing or paranoid has nothing to do with the fact a month before the sixty is announced to the public polaris Aus up the price of the original scout by 2000 and price the sixty at the scout price. All about profit nothing else, but then it might backfire as the sixty is now priced higher than any sportster you can buy here. As i told the dealer today when i got a call no thanks
 
#11 ·
Speaking about "European pricing" (which actually doesn't exist at all), here the 2016 prices haven't yet been announced, but 2015 Scout has a price 17.900 €.

Sporster prices for 2016 are from 12.760€ to 16.650€
 
#16 ·
Hi All,

Went past the Indian/Victory shop here in Melbourne tonight, just because I like to cause myself pain looking at what I can't afford and to see if they had a Scout 60 to see.

No Scout 60 and all the 1133cc Scouts had sold stickers on them,but did notice Victory had the 2015 Gunner and 2014 Boardwalk for $19,995 ride away which is basically the same price as the 1133cc Scout.

Dam! Who is pricing these things. Doesn't matter still can't afford one but I thought it was an interesting comparison.
 
#17 ·
Its basic economics that drives the price, you know the old supply vs demand thing. As long as they sell these things like hotcakes the prices will remain high and again why not ask an extra 2 grand if you can still sell them like hotcakes. I live in Brisbane, Australia and have been on the waiting list, with the only dealer in Queensland for 12 month !!!!!
He has called me in those 12 month 3 or 4 times to get ready for the test ride, only to call it off a few days before the ride because he sold it....every time !
The prices will come down and dealer will start doing deals when they have them sitting in the showrooms with no buyers ....could be a while by the look of it :(
 
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#19 ·
sorry I should have specified that I was looking to test ride the Roadmaster...
 
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#24 · (Edited)
Just looked at exchange rate today and a $19995 scout price in Australia is $14,465.48 in U.S. Dollars. That is a pretty loaded scout. If apples to apples I expect there may be some import fees etc that Polaris pays plus shipping there which may be a $1000 more. Base scout here out the door with Florida sales tax is around $12000 so there is a couple grand difference but you would have to know what import fees etc they get hit with by the government. Sounds nice that the USA is selling something outside our borders at a profit. Now the challenge is if you can buy a used/new bike in USA how much does it cost to get it in your hands registered????
 
#32 ·
I'm in Melbourne so I share your pain but the blame falls on the exchange rate. Last year, Indian didn't raise the price tag by 20+% when we went from USD0.97 to USD0.75. I believe even 2016 models are 'only' $500 more than the previous year models. They are trying to keep things sensible. Sure, I'm a buyer (not seller) so I want it for the same price this year as next year but... I don't like it either. It sucks! But I accept it.

If such a pricing was attempted in a country where the exchange rate remained stable for the past few years, I would not be so understanding.
 
#34 ·
I'm in Melbourne so I share your pain but the blame falls on the exchange rate. Last year, Indian didn't raise the price tag by 20+% when we went from USD0.97 to USD0.75. I believe even 2016 models are 'only' $500 more than the previous year models. They are trying to keep things sensible. Sure, I'm a buyer (not seller) so I want it for the same price this year as next year but... I don't like it either. It sucks! But I accept it.

If such a pricing was attempted in a country where the exchange rate remained stable for the past few years, I would not be so understanding.
I hear you. The price of the $AUD is worth .75 $USD which means that currently we have a 25% difference between the USD and the AUD. Unfortunately this is a fact of life, our dollar is weak - this means that if you want to sell or buy anything American and you were to buy using AUD then you are going to pay 25% more for it. This increase not only increases the cost of the base machine but also the bits and pieces that get the machine to aus - such as freight.
So for a machine that costs 10000 USD in the states is going to cost 12500 in aus before any additional charges such as freight, handling charges, insurance costs with shipping to Aus, customs and regulation compliance to name a few.

And then of course there are the forces of the market that come into play. If you want to slow down the number of units sold (because of availability) the prices has to increase. If you want to speed up the number of units sold (because of a glut in the market space) the price must come down. This is basic marketing and economic. Of course, if you can't maintain supply of the product then you have a decision to make as the manufacturer, whether to slow demand or to increase production. If you increase production, it makes the value of the product (and any existing product that has already been purchased) worth less (not worthless). If you maintain your production levels you now have two choices. Have people waiting for your product (which will result in a reduction in demand because we are a society of "I want it now") or increase the price. If you increase the price it will maintain the brand and increase the name of the product funny enough because only the people that really want to buy it will.

To put a point forward, if Ferrari were to reduce it's price to the same as a ford ute but increase production, the overall worth of the machines and the brand would suffer as a result because being able to own a Ferrari would no longer be out of the reach of the "common man". We are seeing this type of phenomena at the moment with BMW. They are saturating the market with cheap low cost vehicles which is diminishing the brand (in AUS at least).

then these manufacturers also have to consider the second hand market and the ability for the product to maintain it's value as a used product. For example, we would not want the RoadMaster (after shelling out 40000 AUD) to be worth 5000 AUD in 3 years. If they increase production then this is likely to happen because the base cost of the machine comes down and the subsequent "pre loved" price will also reduce because more can afford to "upgrade" on a whim whereas, if the vehicle maintains the $40000 price tag (or more), the vehicle is more likely to hold a good value (like the Ferrari as an example).

So, all in all, if we stop buying either the company goes broke or the price comes down. Either way we are in trouble.
If the price goes up, the value of the machine goes up and it maintains it's "pre loved" value - not bad for the people that own one but not so good for new buyers.
If the prices remains static, that's the same as the price going down as inflation increases everything around it.

What a dilemma - for us and the producer.

Sorry, not pro price increases or pro polaris just looking at the problem from an economic viewpoint.
 
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