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THE SHERCO THE SAMBA! |
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INTERVIEW WITH JUCA VILLELA, THE HEAD OF SHERCO IN BRAZIL |
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| Déa et Juca Villela |
Photo André Chaco/Pró Moto |
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During the first event of the brazelian enduro championship |
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The first units of the French Sherco motorcycles have arrived in Brazil. Due to the great interest by the racers and trail riders from all over Brazil, Pró Moto traveled to Nîmes, in southern France, to obtain more information. |
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Below is an interview with Juca Vilella, director of Off-Rush, the company responsible for the importation and distribution of motorcycles in Brazil. You will understand how Sherco sees the Brazilian market and future customers. |
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OFF-RUSH |
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Team Off-Rush is already well known among the Enduro riders in the São Paulo area, as well as the riders who follow off road Rally racing. |
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Juca is a rider himself and has raced the largest Brazilian Rallies, with the support of Off-Rush. His wife, Dea Vilella, is recognized as an excellent strategist, for many riders, including Dario Julius, official Honda rider, who had the support of Off-Rush on his successful campaign of 2010 in the Hinterlands. Darius made this comment: "“The capability of Dea is very impressive. At the end of each day when I returned exhausted from the race, she handed me the tips and guidelines for the next day. The psychological and strategic support I received from her was critical to my results in the Hinterlands of last year. I cannot stop commenting on the excellent mechanical support that I received from the Off-Rush team." |
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Besides Dario Julius, the off-Rush team provided support last year to riders David Casteu, the winner of the general category and Marc Coma, who is the Spanish Rally champion. This same team, who now becomes responsible for Sherco motorcycles in Brazil, has a Pedigree that is guaranteed and comes with a certificate of authenticity! |
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INTERVIEW by PRÓ MOTO |
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PRÓ MOTO: How did the opportunity to work with Sherco Motorcycles come about? |
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JUCA VILELLA: Our Rally Team has worked with many riders, especially Frenchman David Casteau, who is the official Sherco rider. He introduced us to the board of directors of the manufacturer. After this meeting, we started talking with the factory in France. There were 6 to 8 months of negotiation; as a result we can provide a quality product in Brazil, as is already happening in Europe. |
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PRÓ MOTO: Before importing the Sherco, it is said that you tried to work with the KTM, but did not finalize the deal. Is this true? |
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JUCA VILELLA: Not so. It turns out that we had a very good partnership between Off-RUSH and Valdir, the Austrian importer, who imported KTM into Brazil until 2010. We never tried to import directly; our contact was always with Valdes. The team used a number of Off-Rush KTM models in previous editions of the Dakar Rally, just because we always try to work with high quality bikes. And we find in Sherco the same standard of quality. (NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Pró Moto knows why Sherco has the same quality level in relation to the KTM. You will also understand, if you read the article to be published in the next issue, number 104) |
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PRÓ MOTO: What are your plans for sponsorship and races for riders in Brazil? Is there something already set for 2011? |
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JUCA VILELLA: In this endeavor which is a first in Brazil, our biggest concern was making sure the bike would work well with the gasoline in Brazil. As everyone knows, our gasoline is not a very good quality, thanks to the large amount of alcohol that is mixed in with it. In Europe the bikes use gasoline that is "100% gas," we did a lot of work here and at the factory making all the necessary adjustments to the electronic fuel injection so that the bikes would run properly on "Brazilian" gasoline.
The first bike arrived and our "top" rider, Bissinho, did the tests and approved the performance. Bissinho, who is an excellent rider; he already has our sponsorship and will compete in the 2011 Cup on the Sherco. Because the bike is working so well, we are interested in expanding our incentive opportunities. We see that many good drivers in the market need support. Most importantly, we will seek to support riders who have a similar profile to Bissinho because he exhibits the profile of our team. He is a rider who is very demanding in his results, and has exemplary behavior outside of competition; he always maintains a professional appearance. Sherco is very careful with their quality, in their parts, in their motorcycles, in their brand, and in their customers they also care a lot about the image that their riders portray |
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PRÓ MOTO: As for the profile for Sherco riders, do you think they will be seeking the same customers who are riding other imported bikes; especially those who are currently riding KTM bikes? How will Sherco differentiate their Brazilian product in order to win customers to their motorcycles? |
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JUCA VILELLA: I'll tell you that we do not consider the competition; for one thing KTM has more models than we do. They have bikes for Motocross, Cross Country, Rally, Enduro and Street. It appears that in Brazil their primary focus is on Street bikes, which opens a good opportunity for us. The three models that we are going to have available in Brazil will be able to be used in Enduro, Cross Country, and Rallies as well as Trials. However, our strength is in service, and after sales support. Soon we will have the first course for mechanics who will work with the bikes in the states of Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. The vast experience of Off-Rush will be a key differentiator, because we know what riders need in terms of being able to receive spare parts quickly and how to provide total after market sales support. Each bike we sell will be treated as if it were unique. Our greatest asset will be to continue to maintain the excellent reputation that we have built over the past several years. Anyone who has worked with us knows that this is true. |
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PRÓ MOTO: What Sherco models will be available in Brazil. Prices? |
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JUCA VILELLA: We have models available in the 2.5 (250cc), 3.0 (300cc) and 4.5 (450cc) displacement sizes. The 2.5 model costs R$ 30,000.00, the 3.0 model costs R$34,000.00 and the 4.5 model costs R$ 35,000.00. |
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PRÓ MOTO: Why this big difference in the values between 2.5 and 3.0? |
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JUCA VILELLA: Blame that on Brazilian legislation. When the bike is over 250cc, it moves into a different classification in terms of taxes, which unfortunately increases their value, according to our legislators. |
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PRÓ MOTO: Will all selling be centered in São Paulo or will there be other stores located around the country? |
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JUCA VILELLA: At this time we are focusing our effort in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Paraná. This is because, as I said earlier, both Sherco and Off-Rush highly value the quality of our work and the quality of the Sherco motorcycles. Therefore we will be practicing good mechanical skills in the states mentioned, so that customers in these areas will receive excellent service, before, during and after the sale. They will receive outstanding service when maintenance needs to be performed on their Sherco motorcycle. This will certainly appeal to customers in other regions especially when they trade bikes. These customers believe they should expect the growth of the service network, which will happen over time. |
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PRÓ MOTO: One major concern for off-road bikers, especially for new bike brands, is the availability of spare parts. How will this work with Sherco? |
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JUCA VILELLA: We already have all of the spare parts in Brazil, for all the models sold. In extreme cases, we even bikes with "extras" from which parts can be removed, until we receive replenishment of our stock. Furthermore, we started several conversations with the objective of encouraging our domestic market to produce spare parts at lower cost and with excellent quality right here in Brazil. Soon we will have oil filters, inserts, crowns, discs, guards, and various accessories and parts produced and available domestically. |
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PRÓ MOTO: Where can you buy Sherco motorcycles in Brazil? |
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JUCA VILELLA: We already have some retail locations, such as BH Motorcycles (Minas Gerais), Jarva Racing (Parana) and our own, Off- Rush, in São Paulo. The phone information is: (11) 3477.1711. Email is comercial@offrush.com.br. Oh, and I have one more detail, if any group of riders, located in these states (MG, SP, RJ and PR) is interested in buying the bikes, please contact us and we will send the bikes for a test ride. Simply give us a call and we will schedule a time and place that is convenient for you. |
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| During the first event of the brazelian enduro championship |
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During the first event of the brazelian enduro championship |
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