Press

Ducati dealerships repeated as the top ranked brand in the newly released 2015 Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index U.S. Motorcycle Industry Benchmarking Study. The study measured dealership treatment of motorcycle shoppers, with rankings by brand determined by the patent-pending Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” measurement and scoring to industry sales success.

2015 marked the ninth consecutive year that Ducati and Harley-Davidson dealerships were ranked either first, second or third. Brands showing the greatest overall improvement from 2014 to 2015 were Aprilia, KTM and BMW. Brands with declines from 2014 to 2015 were Can-Am, Indian and Star. All of the five top-ranked brands for 2015 – Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Victory, Triumph and BMW –improved their performance compared to the previous year. In total, thirteen of the seventeen brands improved their performance, resulting in the highest industry average PSI score of the nine years Pied Piper has been benchmarking the U.S. motorcycle industry.

An example of industrywide improvement is the substantial increase in test rides offered. Five years ago an immediate test ride was offered only 15% of the time, while the possibility of a future test ride was mentioned 19% of the time, for a grand total of test rides of any type mentioned 34% of the time. The 2015 study showed that immediate test rides were offered 35% of the time and future test rides were mentioned 28% of the time, for a grand total of test rides of any type mentioned 63% of the time. Other examples of industrywide improvement include salespeople requesting customer contact information 57% of the time vs 46% of the time five years ago, salespeople asking about trade-ins 39% of the time vs 27% of the time five years ago, and salespeople encouraging customers to sit on a bike 81% of the time vs 70% of the time five years ago.