While reading this morning’s New York Times at breakfast, I spotted a full-page advertisement from Piaggio group, scooter maker as well as owner of the Aprilia and Vespa brands. In the advertisement, Paolo Timoni (President and CEO of Piaggio Group Americas, who I recently interviewed) has basically written an open letter promoting the benefits of scooters in saving fuel and reducing air pollution.
Promoting scooters to the general public as an eco-friendly way of getting around is an interesting tactic for Piaggio – and judging by sales of eco-friendly cars like Toyota’s Prius, there must be a significant number of people out there who are interested in reducing their environmental impact while saving gas.
Here is a copy of Piaggio’s press release regarding this letter:
PIAGGIO GROUP AMERICAS PLACES FULL PAGE AD IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
Open Letter to U.S. Mayors Raises Awareness of Energy Self-Sufficiency and Alternative Two-Wheel Transportation
New York, NY, February 21, 2006 – Piaggio Group Americas, the manufacturer
of the world-famous Vespa. scooter, today announced that it has placed a
full-page ad in the February 21st edition of the New York Times. The ad, an
open letter to all U.S. mayors concerning America’s oil consumption, was
written by Paolo Timoni, President and CEO of Piaggio Group Americas. The
full text of the letter is below.
February 21, 2006
Open letter to all U.S. mayors concerned with America’s oil consumption
To attain the ambitious goal of breaking America’s “addiction to oil,” the
President has recently focused on the need to invest in alternative fuel
technologies. However, there is also a behavioral approach that could
greatly reduce this nation’s energy consumption, while helping to preserve
our environment and reduce traffic congestion.The use of motor scooters – a daily behavior of millions of people across
Europe and Asia – is only marginally embraced in the United States.
Everyday in this country, millions of individuals drive their cars in locations and
situations where motor scooters would be perfectly appropriate and
convenient. Instead, if they were to utilize one of the latest eco-friendly motor
scooters available in the market today – those compliant with the most
stringent European and American regulations on gas emissions – they would, on average,
reduce their fuel consumption by 58%, their emissions of carbon
monoxide by 90%, and their emissions of carbon dioxide by 80%.With the launch of the first Vespa in 1946, our company started a movement
that has substantively improved transportation in countries around the
world. Consistent with the President’s energy utilization goals, we believe the
time has come to expand the range of transportation solutions also in the
United States.We encourage you to broaden the dialogue about energy self-sufficiency to
include both technological solutions and behavioral ones, fostering
acceptance of alternative transportation, such as scootering. With your
support – as well as that of other federal, state and local government
leaders – scootering would bring immediate and substantial economic and environmental
benefits to Americans and the communities in which they live.We remain at your disposal should you wish to discuss this opportunity
further.Sincerely,
Paolo Timoni
President and CEO
Piaggio Group AmericasAbout The Piaggio Group Americas:
Established in 1884 by Rinaldo Piaggio and based in Pontedera (Pisa, Italy), the Piaggio Group is one of the world’s top manufacturers of two-wheel motor vehicles. With over 6,000 employees in 50 countries, the Piaggio Group has a consolidated leadership in the European 2-wheeler market, and a particularly strong presence in the scooter and 50cc vehicles segment, with 40 percent market share in Europe and 48 percent in Italy. Its production includes scooters, motorcycles and mopeds in the 50cc to over 1000 cc displacement range, marketed under the Piaggio, Vespa, Gilera, Derbi, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Scarabeo brands. The Piaggio Group is controlled by Immsi S.p.A., an industrial and services holding listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, and is headed by Chairman Roberto Colaninno and Chief Executive Officer Rocco Sabelli.
Across its more than 120-year history, the company has been active in almost every area of transport including: naval fittings; the construction of locomotives and rolling stock; engines for the aeronautics sector; seaplanes; and civil and military aircraft. Since the introduction of the Vespa scooter in 1946, Piaggio has led the way in meeting the growing demand for personal mobility. A universally recognized symbol of Italian style, Vespa is an outstanding success story with more than 16 million scooters produced to date.
