Who knows what Corradino d’Ascanio would have thought of the fact that his Vespa is now worth over a billion euros. He would be proud, also because the Vespa brand continues to grow: it was valued at 1.079 billion), with an increase of 19% compared to the value of the brand obtained in the previous evaluation (906 million euros in 2021).
The result comes from a study commissioned by the Piaggio Group to the Global Brand Consultancy Interbrand who explain with amusement (with Vespas you always have fun…): “The term ‘iconic’ is often abused, but there is really no other way to define this brand, Vespa is a historic but constantly evolving brand; it is deeply Italian and loved globally; it is premium and at the same time inclusive. Our evaluation work not only puts the success of this desired and requested brand into numbers, but also shows that Vespa can embody values such as freedom and joy of living, conquering new arenas beyond the boundaries of mobility.”
Passion aside, the topic is serious: in determining the economic value of the Vespa brand, Interbrand used consolidated proprietary evaluation techniques, incorporating primary data and quantitative studies into the financial analysis resulting from global market research conducted in the 10 reference markets , Italy, France, Germany, Spain, USA, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, China and India.
We don’t know, as we said, what Corradino d’Ascanio would have said, but the stock market does: yesterday the stock, which immediately started off in the right gear, suddenly rose by 2.51% to 2.77 euros per share following the news of Mr Billion.
Certainly the Vespa, which has been produced in Pontedera continuously for 77 years and which has been available in 160 models to date, deserves this and more.
His real name? “Motorcycle with a rational complex of organs and elements with a frame combined with mudguards and bonnet covering the entire mechanical part”: so on 23 April 1946 Piaggio filed the patent for one of the most famous means of transport in the world, the Vespa. The scooter was born and it was immediately love. Today this record-eating scooter is a real social phenomenon in every corner of the world, including the USA, where fashionable architects and models, analysts, chefs and students compete for the latest innovations to the tune of dollars, without even sparing any expense in made of accessories given that the 100 “Vespa Boutiques” – in addition to the 200 real dealerships – scattered from California to Florida, from New York to the Hawaiian Islands sell everything except scooters: bags, scarves, t-shirts, glasses, helmets, plates and glasses. Obviously with the coolest brand of the moment: the Vespa logo from the 1940s, the one with the large, open “V”. However, be careful not to misunderstand the phenomenon: this two-wheeler is also an economic-industrial success because it has now steadily conquered a share of around 18 percent in the US scooter market. An enormity – which translates into around 15 thousand pieces sold per year – given the massive presence of Chinese, Korean and Japanese products which cost more or less half the price of a Vespa.
Not only that: this scooter is completely made in Italy since it was born in Pontedera. And this adds a further snobbish touch to the whole affair, especially in the eyes of Americans who are now helplessly witnessing a wave of “local” products made in China, from Nikes to iPhones. Of course, there is also the Chinese Piaggio factory of Zongshen Foshan Motorcycle, but its production is absorbed entirely by the local market.
However, few know that Americans’ love for the Vespa is an ancient love given that its arrival in the States dates back to 1950, just four years after its debut. The Times spoke of “an entirely Italian product the likes of which had not been seen for centuries after the Roman chariot” and the Reader’s Digest dedicated a long article to the Vespas. It was the beginning of the “international” life of the Vespa: in the same year the Piaggio scooter began to be produced in Germany by the Hoffmann-Werke of Lintorf; the following year the licensees of Great Britain (Douglas of Bristol) and France (ACMA of Paris) also opened. Then in ’53 production also began in Spain with Moto Vespa SA and then in Jette, near Brussels. Factories were also opened in Bombay and Brazil and soon the Vespa will be produced in 13 countries and marketed in 114 countries around the world. Including Iran, China, Australia and South Africa where she was immediately renamed “Bromponie”, moorland pony. However, the Russians deserve the credit for having definitively celebrated the Vespa success: on 9 June 1957, production of the Viatka 150 cc began in Kirov. A Vespa shamelessly copied from the original model: in the USSR not only Cadillac and Buick were cloned, but also the small Piaggio scooter…
The most incredible thing about the whole thing, however, is the genesis. And the – absolute – genius of Corradino d’Ascanio. Because, among other things, the aeronautical designer didn’t like motorcycles. According to him it was uncomfortable, cumbersome, with tires that were too difficult to change in case of a puncture; and moreover, due to the transmission chain, he made a mess. However, the engineer found all the necessary solutions by drawing on his aeronautical experience. To eliminate the chain he imagined a vehicle with a load-bearing body, direct drive; to make riding easier he thought of placing the gear shift on the handlebars; to facilitate the replacement of the wheels he devised not a fork but a support arm similar to aircraft trolleys. And finally he designed a bodywork capable of protecting the driver, preventing him from getting dirty or messing up his clothing: decades before the spread of ergonomic studies, the Vespa driving position was designed to make you sit comfortably and safely, rather than dangerously balanced on a high-wheeled motorcycle.
From D’Ascanio’s new project a vehicle was born that no longer had anything to do with the “Donald Duck”: an absolutely original and revolutionary solution compared to all other examples of two-wheeled motorized locomotion. With the help of Mario D’Este, his trusted designer, Corradino D’Ascanio only needed a few days to develop his idea and prepare the first project of the Vespa, produced in Pontedera in April 1946. The name of the The vehicle was coined by Enrico Piaggio himself who, in front of the MP 6 prototype, with its very wide central part to accommodate the driver and its narrow “waist”, exclaimed: “It looks like a Vespa!”. And Vespa it was.
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