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ver notice how trends just magically appear? You see one person with an iPod at the gym and next thing you know everyone has one. It comes out of nowhere and then its everywhere. Im sure youre always watching what the dealer down the street is doing, but these days you have to know what the dealer in one state over and all across the country are doing as well. It once took months and sometimes years for trends to make their way from coast to coast. This is no longer the case. As we all know, the Internet has made the world a much smaller place, and the trend that just took hold in California last week may be knocking on your door this week in the form of a father wanting to upgrade his kids dune buggy at your dealership. Are you ready?
naturally evolving and crossing over into areas currently dominated by UTVs.
www.buggynews.com, and you will see hundreds of weekend warriors wrenching away, upgrading their karts and exchanging ideas on how to better the market. The use of the GY6 and CN250 engine, which are simple to upgrade, allow for the hobbyist to play with his kart without breaking the bank. There are several companies selling upgrades, such as Joyner and MRP.
Kart Contacts:
Adly Moto LLC 1725 Hurd Drive, Suite 108 Irving, TX 75038 (972) 870-1572 www.adlymoto.com/us ARGO/Ontario Drive & Gear Ltd. 220 Bergey Court New Hamburg, Ontario N3A 2J5 CANADA (519) 662-4000 www.argoatv.com AwesomeBuggy.com 2020 North 10th Avenue Tucson, AZ 85705 (520) 624-6733 www.awesomebuggy.com Bristers Design & Manufacturing Co. 62194 Commercial St. P.O. Box 649 Roseland, LA 70456 (866) 646-5278 www.bristers.com Carter Brothers Mfg. Co. Inc./SYM 1871 U.S. Hwy. 231 Brundidge, AL 36010 (334) 735-2301 www.carterbro.com Chuck Wagon (See Bristers) Club Car/Ingersoll-Rand P.O. Box 204658 Augusta, GA 30917 (706) 863-3000 www.clubcar.com Dazon Inc. 5865 S. Kyrene Road, Suite 1 Tempe, AZ 85283 (480) 968-4300 www.teamdazon.com ETON America LLC 7092 Howard St., Unit F Spartanburg, SC 29301 (864) 278-9585 www.etonamerica.com E-Z-GO/Textron 91451 Marvin Griffin Rd. Augusta, GA 30906 (706) 798-4311 www.ezgo.com Fushin USA 10614 King William Dr. Dallas, TX 75220 (214) 420-7600 www.fushinusa.com Goldenvale Inc./Roketa 2041 S. Turner Ave. Ontario, CA 91761 (909) 975-4488 www.roketa.com
Just like in the booming scooter industry, the dealer and the consumer get what they pay for when it comes to warranties and parts, but even the highend models such as the Carter GTR 250 are really affordable when compared to offerings in the ATV market. And have you priced a new Rhino? Many consumers are aware of the brands carried by the Big Box retailers like Sams Club with Tomberlin or the smaller karts from Baja Powersports stocked by Pep Boys. On the down side these big volume discounters sell the units at extremely low margins, but they are helping increase overall awareness of the sport.
consultant to help make changes in the vehicles. His experience comes from 17 years as an automotive technician specializing in highend computer diagnostics and having owned an auto repair shop for 10+ years. He sees the market heading in a new direction in 2008. The market is going towards shifter engines because Americans want speed and more torque. This can only be achieved with a kart that can shift gears and change sprockets, says Lankicsh. He also believes that the Chinese suppliers are moving towards frame-only packages where the consumers will install their own engines from the likes of Honda, Yamaha and other suppliers.
commitment to quality, comments Carters Belmont. Expanding beyond the trades to consumer-direct media shows a positive step in consumer awareness. There are still no real sales figures available, and most distributors would not provide us with a dealer list, only general numbers. There are a wide range of sales figures floating around because of the uncertainty due to the large number of re-badgers, manufacturers represented in the U.S., distributors and importers. However estimates range from 80,000 units to 160,000 units a year. Even these numbers can be confusing because some companies consider these desert buggies, UTVs and karts meant for indoor tracks getting counted as off-road units. Big Box retailers, as mentioned earlier, have also gotten into the game. You can pick up a GY6 based kart at your local Pep Boys, a Tomberlin 150 at Sams, even a 250cc at Costco. The target market is also undefined, but is similar to the scooter market in the sense that there are a broad range of buyers. The people that are looking for go karts run the range from teenagers to octogenarians, but when you get them all together, they can talk about their go karts, says Kinroad VP Michael Yuen. Despite the lack of concrete sales figures,
Groundhog Go Karts (See Sunright) Her Chee Parts (See Adly Moto & DRR, Inc.) Jehm Powersports 2612 S. U.S. Hwy. 31/33 Niles, MI 49120 (269) 684-0133 www.jehmpowersports.com Joyner 1510 W. Bell De Mar Tempe, AZ 85283 (480) 813-6363 www.thunderinc.com KartAccessories.com 7516 Precision Dr., Ste. 107 Raleigh, NC 27613 (919) 957-0044 Fax (919) 957-4433 www.kartaccessories.com Kartco Karts Box 110 Sebastopol, MS 39359 (601) 625-7471 www.kartcokarts.com Kasea LLC 6701 East Marginal Way Seattle, WA 98108 (206) 762-7700 www.kasea.com Keeway America LLC 2912 Skyway Circle North Irving, TX 75038 (888) 553-3929 www.keewaymotor.com Kinroad USA 1210 Champion Circle, Suite 210 Carrollton, TX 75006 (469) 461-8886 www.kinroadusa.com Manco Products Inc. 4404 Engle Ridge Dr. Fort Wayne, IN 46804 (260) 432-1596 www.mancopowersports.com Marshin Power/Blue Ridge Global 128 Bingham Road Ashville, NC 28806 (828) 252-5225 www.blueridgeimports.com Martin Racing Performance Inc. 1740 NW 93rd Ave. Miami, FL 33172 (305) 599-8993 www.mrp-speed.com RunMaster Karts
(See Kinroad USA) Sunright International 5965 Peachtree Corners E. Norcross, GA 30071 (770) 729-9065 www.sunright.net SYM (See Carter Brothers) Team Joyner (See Joyner) TJ Powersports 8724 N. Royal Lane Irving, TX 75063 (972) 915-3900 www.tjpowersports.com Tomberlin 3123 Washington Rd. Augusta, GA 30907 (706) 860-8880 www.tomberlin.net Vision Motorsports 151 Equestrian Rd. Ozark, MO 65721 (866) 877-4300 www.visionmotorsport.com XTV (See Carter Brothers) Yerf-Dog (A Division of Flexible Flyer Corp.) 1743 South Horne, #100 Mesa, AZ 85204 (888) 926-6554 www.yerf-dog.com Zebra International/China Off-Road 3122 Enterprise Ave. Joplin, MO 64801 (417) 622-4123
competition from eBay importers and distributor-direct sales, most of the dealers I spoke to are still able to compete. They all report higher than normal sales, an increase in performance parts sales and a growing interest in the sport. The best part is that every single one reported that they are making money, expanding, and happier than theyve ever been with the sport. You cant put a price on that. My recommendation is that if youre not selling go karts, get
to it. Stock parts, stock racing accessories, hit the message boards at www.buggynews.com and encourage weekend rides with your customers. If you are a new dealer, you must know your product. Test-drive the units before you agree to carry them. Stocking the right suppliers and knowing your product will create repeat business and allow you to offer tech support, which is still sadly lacking in the scene. Combine this advice with information you can get by
talking to fellow dealers, reading the trades and researching online in order to come up with your go kart action plan. With more competition comes lower pricing and less profit. Dont miss this trends window of opportunity. I Joel Martin can be contacted at Joel@MRP-SPEED.com He is the president of MRP the leading scooter store supplier in the U.S., when he is not reading MPN.