Bill Griffith wrote a nice piece about our new WheelsTV Dealer Video Showroom product on Boston.com and in the Boston Globe. Here’s an exerpt from the article: The majority of new-car buyers do considerable internet research as part of their shopping experience. The J.D. Power 2014 Third-Party Automotive Website Evaluation Study found that video content […]
Acton, MA and Los Angeles, CA: The first 225 U.S. franchised auto dealerships to sign up for the Dealer Video Showroom (DVS) will share in a million dollars worth of video products when WheelsTV unveils this revolutionary video sales tool at the Digital Dealer Conference, May 6, 7 and 8 in Atlantic City. (more…)
Groundbreaking Interactive Video Car Shopping Microsite Exceeds All Target Metrics. Acton, MA & Los Angeles, CA, February 27, 2014: WheelsTV has released interim results of the beta test of the Dealer Video Showroom (DVS). The DVS has been in beta testing with six Boston area dealers representing ten brands since July of 2013. The data […]
Bringing data to life with digital video helps millions to find and buy their next car. Acton, MA, Los Angeles, CA, February 4, 2014: Automotive Networks Corporation, d/b/a WheelsTV, today celebrates its tenth anniversary of service to the auto industry and motoring public. When WheelsTV launched its video test drive business in 2004, the principal […]
The 2013 WheelsTV POV of the Year is awarded to the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee for exhibiting outstanding long-term reliability, go-anywhere capabilities and exceptional consumer satisfaction. At the New England Motor Press Association’s Annual Awards Dinner held at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, WheelsTV presented its POV of the Year Award to the 2011 Jeep […]
Acton, MA – May 16th, 2012 At the New England Motor Press Association’s (NEMPA) annual meeting and awards dinner held on Friday, May 11th, the 2012 WheelsTV POV of the Year Award (POVY) was presented to the ’07 to ’10 Chevrolet Silverado. The POVY recognizes motor vehicles that have proven themselves in day-to-day use for at least two years […]
WheelsTV unveiled the 2012 POV Award at MIT Friday May 11th, 2012. Here’s a great article written up by the Boston Globe via boston.com: Click to Read: Ford Fusion, Hyundai CEO honored at MIT.
WheelsTV would like to wish all of its clients, users and fans a happy and healthy New Year! We’re especially excited to kick off 2012 with the opening of our new office in Los Angeles, CA. Stay tuned for new video products, custom projects, and our new innovative automotive media tools in 2012. We look […]
Here's my Top 10 stories for 2011. I hope all the readers of this blog had a great Christmas and that 2012 will be a great year on the two wheels.
Building unique and personal motorcycles on the cheep is nothing new and has been a continuous process since the first motorcycles were introduced. The economy being what it was (is) has brought this form of art back to the forefront. For me, this is the truest form of customization and was a fun part of 2011 for me.
Kawasaki has been the leader in the small displacement street bike category for years and the introduction of the Ninja 400 should keep them in forefront in usable, around town motorcycles. With a peppy 399cci parallel twin engine, this motorcycle fills a needed gap between the 125 / 250 motorcycles and the “full sized” 650 street bikes. The price is right too.
Ok, Custom Motorcycles aren’t new, but 2011 took a whole new twist on what was a booming business in the early part of the century. With the help of the Discovery Channel and Custom Motorcycles became mainstream in the early 2000’s and some builders took advantage of the good economic times and built bikes costing many thousands of dollars and drawing criticism of the “true” bikers. The collapse of the economy in 2008 brought all of this to a screeching halt, with many of the big names in custom building going out of business. This the economy slowly coming back online in 2011, companies like Harley Davidson and Honda were offering a “custom” motorcycle program where a customer could choose what they wanted on their motorcycle and then have the factory build it. While these are “unique” motorcycles and built to the customers taste, the customer was not part of the build, which is a big part of the fun.
Harley Davidson had been successful by keeping true to the classic Harley Davidson “look”, “feel” and “sound”, while at the same time incorporating modern motorcycle technology and handling into their bikes. The Road Glide Ultra is a merging of the long-standing, unique look of the Road Glide and the touring capabilities of the Ultra Glide. By combining the looks and handling of the frame mounted faring of the Road Glide, the luggage carrying capacity of the Ultra Glide and the modern Harley handling and power of the new 103 cubic inch engine into one, Harley Davidson built a winner for 2011.
It wasn’t that long ago that anything over 650 cc’s was considered a heavy weight motorcycle. Now that distinction falls to machines that are 1200 cc’s and larger. Until recently the European market been the main consumers of motorcycles between 650 cc’s and 1000 cc’s, but that’s changing. With the introduction of the Yamaha FZ 800 and the Triumph Tiger 800 and 800 XC motorcycles in 2011 to complement the recent introduction of the Ducati Monster and Hyper Motard 796, the mid-size motorcycle market in North America is poised to make a resurgence in the next couple of years. These motorcycles perform, are reliable, simple and can be ridding in many different ways.
On August 17th, the motorcycling world lost Claudio Castiglioni who was responsible for likely saving Ducati in the late 1970’s and early 80’s to saving MV Agusta, twice. Castiglioni had a passion for both the style and performance of a motorcycle and this was shown in the designs that came out of Ducati and more recently out of MV Agusta. Even though both companies have seen good and bad times under Castiglioni’s direction, they are both alive and growing in brand awareness and sales.
Ok, Adventure Touring motorcycles aren’t new. Years ago they were called dual purpose or enduro, and they were limited in comfort and range. Then BMW and KTM upped the anti with their GS and Adventure series bikes that were better suited to the paved road less traveled or the dirt road well traveled. In 2011 the field of motorcycles in this class got much bigger with the introduction of the Yamaha Super Tenere and the
Triumph Tiger 800 and 800 XC. Now the motorcycling consumer as plenty of choices in this category, with the most advanced having all the power and agility of a sport bike in the motorcycling world’s version of the SUV that can be ridden for hours on end in great comfort.
On October 23rd, Marco Simoncelli was killed while competing in a MotoGP event in Malaysia. Simoncelli was aggressive on the track, while is personality off the track was that of someone who loved life. The accident was tragic and brought out the hazards of motorcycle racing, even with all the safety features that are built into the modern motorcycle.
In April of 2011, Polaris Industries of Minnesota purchased Indian Motorcycle from Indian Motorcycle Inc. Indian has been in and out of business for 110 years and this is the first time since it’s inception that it will be owned and operated by a company that is financially stable and has the distribution network to bring the historic and storied brand back to prominence. Only time will tell what Polaris has in mind for Indian. For 2012 they will produce and retail 3 models and their price is still in a range where only those with the means and desire to own an Indian can afford one.
The Diavel was one of the motorcycles that I felt would be a big mart of the 2011 motorcycle scene and it didn’t disappoint. The hardest part for the motorcycling media was to figure out what category to put it into and in the end, it didn’t fit any one category. Power Sport Cruiser is what I would call it and for now it’s the only one in it.