VOL. 52 ISSUE 21 MAY 27, 2015 P31
ducing these, then constantly
updating them. In other words,
the current technical suspen-
sion race has in effect claimed
its first victim, leaving WP, Sachs
and of course market leader
Öhlins to fight for their share of
the marketplace.
Based in Lake Forest, Illi-
nois, Tenneco is an automotive
suspension multinational with
29,000 employees worldwide
and factories in China and
Europe as well as the USA,
which in 2014 had a turnover of
$8.4 billion. In 2008 it decided
to enter the then-flourishing
motorcycle and mountain bike
market by acquiring Marzocchi,
but the global economic crisis
that took hold weeks later meant
that the timing could not have
been worse. It's unlikely that
Marzocchi could have survived
on its own, with a Euro 15 million
debt mountain largely caused
by already poor quality control
which resulted in a high rate of
returns from customers forced
to reject components supplied
to them for OE fitment.
Tenneco instituted a program
of ramping up quality, as well as
investing in a new range of prod-
ucts, all aimed at turning the tide
in motorcycle component orders
mountain bike suspension had
by now been shifted to Taiwan.
But with sales cut drastically
thanks to the recession, Ten-
neco decided to shut Marzocchi
down in 2011 a process which
the Italian unions managed to
delay by agreeing to cutting the
170-person workforce at Zol a
Pedrosa to 120 people, and a
35 percent decrease in hours
worked for the remainder. In
return, Tenneco committed to
delaying a possible closure until
mid-2015, but despite signs of a
global upturn in the two-wheeled
marketplace, it has now been
confirmed that the company will
shut its doors as of September
2015.
Alan Cathcart
ZERO LOWERS MSRP
Z
ero Motorcycles has an-
nounced it will lower the MSRP
by $1350 across the 2015 model
range. The discount comes off the
back of news the company has
seen battery costs fall and energy
density increase faster than expect-
ed, a bonus Zero is making sure is
passed to the customer.
"As leaders in this space we be-
lieve it is important to pass on the
benefits of improved battery tech-
nology and our increased scale to
consumers as soon as possible to
allow more motorcyclists to expe-
rience the thrill of electric," said
Richard Walker, Zero Motorcycles
CEO. "We're not here to do things
as they've been traditionally done
in the motorcycle industry. Making
this change midseason to deliver
great value to consum-
ers at industry-leading
price points, rather than
waiting for 2016, is just
the right thing to do."
The news is also good
for Zero's European customer
base, with the cost reductions al-
lowing Zero to absorb the currency
impact of the weakened Euro dollar
without raising the current prices.
"This announcement will ben-
efit the consumer and, of course,
further accelerate our growth. We
are the acknowledged technol-
ogy and commercial leaders in the
burgeoning electric motorcycle
market, and this move positions us
well to remain on top," said Pieter
de Waal, Zero Motorcycles VP of
Global Sales and Marketing.
Zero customers
will be doing
plenty of happy
things now that
the company has
knocked off over
$1000 of the
retail price.
