Updates from Vectrix

Wow, great new info. I would not buy a lesser version of the current Vectrix. But I would definitely get a 2nd Vectrix with a lithium battery. I would likely keep my current Vectrix as a backup and for friends to ride.

FYI, here's the place to find that and other announcements: http://investors.vectrix.com/vectrix/rns/

I seem to recall seeing a picture of the Vectrix JR(my name not theirs), slightly smaller than the current Vectrix V1

Isn;t this the proposed VX2...? Ant not to be confused with the W3, the three wheeler modeled on the Piaggio MP3 bike...

I am sure its all part of the expanding product line plan. Good for them and us I think.

FYI, here's the place to find that and other announcements: http://investors.vectrix.com/vectrix/rns/

And most of us are not even allowed to read it!
The disclaimer you have to agree to to get to their announcements says:

I certify that (i) I am a current stockholder of Vectrix Corporation, or (ii) if I am not a current stockholder of Vectrix Corporation, that (a) I do not reside in the United States and I am not a US person (as such terms are defined in Regulation S under the Securities Act) and (b) I am not located in Australia, Canada, the Republic of South Africa, the Republic of Ireland or Japan.

Mr. Mik

I hereby certify that I ignored that silliness. For those of you that are more honest and upstanding persons than myself (a person now of questionable moral character), I'd be happy to repost the documents in another web location free of such encumbrances. I respect the law in most cases, but I see this as a CYA maneuver on Vectrix's part, probably due to some governmental regulations.

Regards,
DaveD

This you are allowed to read, as far as I know:

Delivered 204 bikes to dealers ("Sell In") in 23 countries and sold 129 bikes

As a result of initiating production and sales operations in the US and the EU and growing the business, operating expenses for the six months have risen from US$13.4 million to US$29.3 million, which has slightly increased the net loss for the six months ended 31 March 2008 to US$26.0 million (H12007: net loss of US$24.6 million).

The Company's cash position at 31 March 2008 was US$22.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. The cash used in operating activities during the six months ended 31 March 2008 was US$21.3 million. Cash attributable to investment and financing activities totalled a net inflow of US$0.8 million during the six months ended 31 March 2008 and, with the effects of exchange rates resulting in US$1.2 million, net cash outflow for the six months ended 31 March 2008 was US$21.7 million. While the Company has taken steps to reduce cash expenditures and believes it has adequate funds to meet its current strategic goals, there can be no guarantees and the Company may need additional financing to achieve its plans.

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:VRX.L&display=news&it=le

Mr. Mik

Based on that kind of cash burn rate, they will run out of cash within 6 months. (I am the master of the obvious)

Do you guys see them going bankrupt? Or do you think there is a buyer for this technology that would takeover and continue the operations?

If they need it I am sure they will get another round of funding. I see them revamping their business plan with their several new models and maybe getting some traction under their feet with a few more sales this year.

I think there are plenty of investors willing to gamble on a company like Vectrix.

Since 31 March 2008, GP bought shares of Vectrix and started developing LiFePo4 batteries for Vectrix.

After March 31st, Vectrix lowered the price of their Maxi-Scooter and I believe that they sold many more scooters. Also, Vectrix delivered 120+ scooters to GP.

I think partnership with GP will benefit Vectrix a lot.

The big question is at what point they are selling at or below cost.

It might only be a flicker of life because they are flogging the scooters off for less than it costs to make them.

If there is enough margin left in the current price then they severely ripped off all the early adopters!

Mr. Mik

Early adopters always pay the premium price tag at whatever the product (PS3, iPhone1,...)

The big question is at what point they are selling at or below cost.

It might only be a flicker of life because they are flogging the scooters off for less than it costs to make them.

If there is enough margin left in the current price then they severely ripped off all the early adopters!

Mr. Mik

Where did you get they're selling them below production cost?

Are you thinking this because the corporation is running at a loss? It's common for companies in a startup phase to be losing money. It's common for a company to lose money at one sales level but be profitable if their sales were higher. It takes a certain volume of production to drive the costs down so that the company is profitable.

Where did you get they're selling them below production cost?

Are you thinking this because the corporation is running at a loss? It's common for companies in a startup phase to be losing money. It's common for a company to lose money at one sales level but be profitable if their sales were higher. It takes a certain volume of production to drive the costs down so that the company is profitable.

I do not have that information. But the price has been reduced a lot and there must be a price below which you cannot sustain production.

By the way: Does anyone else interpret their carefully worded Interim Results in the sense that no production is happening at the moment?

Mr. Mik

By the way: Does anyone else interpret their carefully worded Interim Results in the sense that no production is happening at the moment?

PRODUCTION REVIEW

In the first half of the year we manufactured 244 vehicles. We anticipate commencing 2009 model year build in the latter part of the current financial year. In order to maintain our listing status with National Automobile Dealers Association we are required to show continuous production and product models.

At period end, we have aligned production with our growing distribution network. Based on our reduced production plan for the balance of FY2008 and our accelerating dealer sales, we expect inventories to reduce significantly by year end.

It appears that they've significantly curtailed production, but not stopped it completely.

(warning: thread hijack in progress!)

Hi knabo!

Is the picture I'm seeing on your posts your Vectrix? If so, is that a Givi E370 top box and Vectrix-supplied mounting hardware that I see on it? I've made inquiries to Vectrix, and that is the top box that they're offering to me, and was curious what people's opinions were of that box.

Regards,
Dave

Hey Dave,

It is actually a V46 Monokey box from Givi There is another box they offer, maybe the 370. This is the larger size offered at my dealer.

My impression:

Well made box, has rubber seals to keep out water. The mounting plate is very sturdy. Easy to remove and /or open once you get the hang of it.

I was afraid you were going to say that was a V46, and you did. My Vectrix contact, at their flagship R.I. store, talked at first about both the E370 and the V46 boxes being available, but warned me about a 20 pound carrying limit for the V46, despite the fact that Givi rates it for 30 pound capacity. Even though I told him I wanted the larger V46 for its volume (so I can store my riding suit in it) and not for carrying much weight, he's saying now that he can't sell me the V46. I have a feeling that this is a legal liability thing, though he's not said so explicitly.

Givi doesn't offer any Vectrix mounting kits, so I seem to be stuck with only the E370 box accessory. I wonder if another Vectrix dealer would sell me a V46 box and mounting hardware. My local dealer has been unresponsive to my repeated inquiries for a box price quote, so I've given up on them, at least for accessories.

Dave, if you ever find a box that works and are at the point of ordering, please let me know the info on where and contact info to order.

Also, I met another Vectrix owner in Issaquah today. On Saturday Chad bought the last one at Green Car Co. Also a former Microsoft PM. Something about Microsoft and Vectrix seems to be going on around here. Our scooter gang is growing.

Dave, if you ever find a box that works and are at the point of ordering, please let me know the info on where and contact info to order.

Will do. I'm hoping someone reading this might be able to give me a line on where I can get a V46 box and Vectrix mounting hardware. You can check out the details on Givi's website, http://www.giviusa.com. Look for the V46 and E370 boxes.

Our scooter gang is growing.

Yes, indeed. A couple more and we might be able to have a rumble. Whatever the heck a rumble is. :-)

It will only be a rumble if they work for Oracle or Google. Maybe Yahoo or Amazon scooter riders could get my blood boiling also, but not the same as Oracle or Google guys. I really want to mess one of them up bad. :-)

I think the real question is this: is there a difference in the mounting plate between the boxes? I would not think there would be any difference between the Vectrix monolock plates for the different sized boxes.

It also would not make sense for Givi to have a different plate for every box they sold.

My dealer did not have much experience with Givi, in fact he had some trouble just showing me how the box opened and unlatched. But one of my options was to get the mount without any box. So would it be possible to get the mount from your dealer and the box somewhere else?

It also would not make sense for Givi to have a different plate for every box they sold.

Ah, yes, right you are! Looking closer at the giviusa.com website, I see now that the Monolock and the Monokey top cases both attach to a universal Monorack mount.

Thanks for point that out!

"My dealer did not have much experience with Givi, in fact he had some trouble just showing me how the box opened and unlatched."

The famous givi latch! E-Max's came with Chinese copycat Givi's, and to a person, everyone thought their case had a broken latch.

Well I can say that an actual Givi latch works great. It feels solid and has good tension.

Once you figure our how to operate it that is.

Dave, I just purchased a Vectrix from Station Park Honda in KY, I also purchased the V46 Monokey and mounting kit. I installed the V46 last night and it went on very easy and looks pretty good. They shipped me the Vectrix mount with replacement tail piece which has pre-drilled holes in it. On top of this you mount Givi's E250 universal mounting deck which the V46 slides right on and locks. I did notice that the screw's on the E250 plate were about 1/8 of an inch short if I used both washer as shown in the drawing supplied. If you would like some photos I could take a few tomorrow. The only thing that I am trying to figure out know is how to hook up the optional tail light kit. I also purchased it and installed it with not problems except the wiring. Need to figure out how to access the wiring for the tail light. Everything seems to be sealed really well, unless I have to take of the body panel.

My VX1 came with the V46 installed by Vectrix UK - I agree the latch is a nightmare to become familiar with, but once achieved it's a no brainer after that. My only reservation is that unlike the seat, the box cannot be left in the open position - the captive cort keeps it short of the vertical, and so it will always fall unassisted into the closed (but not latched) position.

Thanks for the information, shopemk. Mik posted several pictures of the brackets used to mount the Givi mount, so I won't trouble you for pictures, but thanks anyway for the offer.

Dave, I just purchased a Vectrix from Station Park Honda in KY, I also purchased the V46 Monokey and mounting kit. I installed the V46 last night and it went on very easy and looks pretty good. They shipped me the Vectrix mount with replacement tail piece which has pre-drilled holes in it. On top of this you mount Givi's E250 universal mounting deck which the V46 slides right on and locks. I did notice that the screw's on the E250 plate were about 1/8 of an inch short if I used both washer as shown in the drawing supplied. If you would like some photos I could take a few tomorrow. The only thing that I am trying to figure out know is how to hook up the optional tail light kit. I also purchased it and installed it with not problems except the wiring. Need to figure out how to access the wiring for the tail light. Everything seems to be sealed really well, unless I have to take of the body panel.

Yes, I'd like some photos, please!

Sounds like it might be a different mount to the one I have.

Mr. Mik