Veni, vidi, Vespa

Direct marketing
Since the high-profile call to arms, Piaggio executives have been working privately with municipalities across the country to make major cities more amenable to scooting. Vespa's game plan involves working with mayors, public officials, and transportation experts to increase scooter-friendly city features, notably parking. "In most cases, we just need a few champions that will leap ahead and implement in their own cities," says Timoni. "It takes a little bit of time to crack the first one or two."

Last month, Vespa took a similar conservation message to the public with its "Vespanomics" campaign. A dedicated Web site explains how scooting can save on fuel costs and reduce emissions, and asks consumers to sign a "Vespatition" in support of more parking. Those testimonials are intended to be another piece of leverage in Timoni's negotiations with mayors around the country.

Executives say, though directed at different constituencies, the company's various plans are part of the same project. "They're different strategies to hammer on the same nail," says Timoni.

Such direct-to-consumer marketing — including last year's Vespa-themed blog Vespaway.com — signals a shift for the trendy manufacturer. When Vespa first re-entered the U.S. market in 2000, it left marketing largely at the discretion of local dealers. Results raised some eyebrows, particularly when one dealership chose a transvestite as its official unofficial spokesperson. Of the incident, Timoni remarks: "Sometimes people take their own direction. We need to find a way to keep brand consistency and also act in a localized way."

Three wheels good

VESPAS: Past and present Click for photos and more information: Granturismo: $5,199 GTS: $5,799 LX 50: $3,199 LX 150: $4,199 PX 150: $4,199 MP-3 Prototype Hybrid Prototype Original 1946 Vespa

The growth of the scooter market also has a downside: As ridership grows, so do safety concerns. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), fatalities on two-wheel vehicles were up 18 percent to just over 4,000 deaths last year. Though motorcycle and scooter fatalities make up less than 10 percent of all vehicle-crash deaths, 2005 was the seventh consecutive year that fatalities had risen. Although Umesh Shankar, a mathematical statistician with the NHTSA's Center for Statistics and Analysis that puts the fatality numbers together, suggests those fatalities mostly involve larger vehicles, it's still an issue for the scooter company.

Piaggio's safety answer? A head-turning new scooter intended to allay concerns. The MP-3, which goes on sale in Europe this month, has two small wheels in front and one in back. The striking design, which will be available here in January, 2007, improves balance and makes cornering sharper and more nimble. "People are concerned about balancing of the vehicles, being able to brake, having stability in turns, et cetera," Timoni says. "And so, addressing some of these concerns, the MP-3 was born."

But, the company's biggest upcoming play builds on its environmental campaigns with what some consider the über-scooter: a hybrid Vespa. Execs haven't yet given the production green light to the prototype presented to the mayor of Milan last year, but, in a moment of exuberance, Timoni says, "I think sooner or later, we'll see a hybrid Vespa."

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