Also one more comment to this:

The last part of your statement is not true either. Having multiple distributors only opens the door to oligopolizing the market. There isn't a direct correlation to having more product available to the market with more distributors. With two distributors, demand may rise. However, the supply is still the same coming from one manufacturing point. With two distributors demanding more product, the product that is available will be sold to the highest bidding distributor, which will eventually reflect in price to the customer. If anything, Mugen should expand manufacturing to change their supply strategy. But then again, I doubt they or any small tuner shop/race team (Spoon, J's, Amuse, etc.) revenue scheme includes large distribution.

 

Not to start rumors or to add to them, I've heard that KMS is either looking or have found a person to fill the VP Sales and/or VP Marketing positions at KMS, among other things, to address concerns that have been seen on this board.

I doubt that the S2000 market concerns aren't high priority though, as they shouldn't be. There are many more Civic, Integra, RSX, Prelude tuners and racers out there than S2000 tuners. Nothing that we should/need to take personally, it's business.

 

Isn't that their entire existence is to sell Mugen parts? Regardless of who buys them?
-Lee

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by asu_lee

 

I disagree.....Mugen is in business to make money. If I am Mugen and I am not getting the sales volume I want from King I go elsewhere......and an oligopoly vs monopoly. I'd rather have an oligopoly......At least there is some competition there. Consumers can choose who they are going to buy from.

Oligopoly is always better than a non-monitored monopoly.......
-Lee

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by asu_lee
I disagree.....Mugen is in business to make money.

 

Both of you guys have a good point, however if I may interject my 2 cents into the Mugen/KMS issue,
I'd choose the oligopoly over monopoly, specifically relating to KMS.

I've received mediocre service and had little or no communication with King and they have yet to return 1 of my over 20 calls made last year. They've been known to procrastinate (my personal experiences) and take their time on a lot of things. I've ordered a Mugen suspension, exhaust, intake, ecu kit for many Civics (my customers) and unfortunately King is the only distributor for the products. I've waited over 6 months for a status on the order (I'm not saying anything about the amount of wait time since my clients understand the backorder issue), however there is no justification for not returning my phone calls. IMHO, you can take as long as it takes... I mean, a lot of times a lot of things are out of your control so there's no sense in me complaining about something that KMS can't control. If it's taking long, backordered forever or whatever, at least they should call back stating "hey, just wanted to keep you informed that we're still waiting on..." and that'll end my inquiry.

I know this isn't the case, but their lack of action could be interpreted like "hey, we are the only distributors for Mugen products so we can take our sweet ol' time..."

I'll take another example... Spugen. Duc provided me with service I couldn't believe... he kept in contact with me off the clock, from his car away from the office, to provide me with updated information. He responded to all of my inquiries incredibly fast, returned all my calls and provided helpful suggestions
to any issue(s) that we came across. I honestly didn't expect that level of service from anyone, but Spugen exceeded all of my needs and wants. Spugen IMHO represents the benchmark in which quality standards should be measured.

All I ask of any retailer/distributor to understand is that if I'm calling you to inquire about your products, it's likely that I'm willing to pay the price for the product and service and I fully understand that not all issues that your company may have is controllable, all I ask is you treat me fairly with respect to my concerns... that's all.

 

In my case, an oligopoly doesn't necessarily have to benefit me in terms of pricing, as long as quality service is there. For me, I seriously want another distributor for Mugen products, even if the prices are the same or higher.

 

Good arguments on both sides, but don't forget the third side (though probably not applicable in this case)...being in business for the sole purpose of allowing another business to exist. Case in point was Porsche? Several years ago in some of the ALMS type racing where the cars had to be based on "production cars"...they had to build and sell a specific minium number of supercars just to compete, then subsequently pulled out based on some more rule changes. I believe there are other cases of businesses being in areas or industries more as a stop gap/place holder....not to make money in it, but often to prevent competition from taking over or someone else from doing it, and increasing costs off the charts.
(Go vertical to secure materials/services/technology that may otherwise be unavailable to you)

What I really want to know is...what can Mugen really do with a US MY04?
-Justin

 

im sure they can do alot if they really wanted too.
all out race car hmmmmmmmmm i would love too see that