Seventeen UK Kawasaki dealers travelled to Japan for a week from 12-19 October – a trip which included a tour of the motorcycle design and production facility in Akashi and spending a weekend in the country’s capital, Tokyo.
The trip was an incentive for dealers with a scoring criteria focused on customer experience and sales performance.
Kawasaki UK sales manager Craig Watson said: “It was great to be able to take 17 of our dealers over to Japan, the home of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. It was an amazing opportunity to see the country where the Kawasaki brand was born.
“All of our dealers worked really hard to meet the criteria and score enough points to secure their places on the trip – the top five from each territory were chosen to attend plus two ‘wildcards’ were pulled out of the hat when two of our staff had to pull out last minute.
“The incentive trip was something I’ve wanted to do for a long while. From the first time I visited the KHI Akashi plant and saw the care and attention that goes into every element from research and development all the way through to final checks after production, I wanted some of our dealers to see it.”
Shelley Smith, sales admin manager at Colchester Kawasaki, said: “The trip was so good and really interesting. It was something I never thought I would have experienced so to have the chance to go over to Japan was a real treat. The factory tour was my favourite part and it helped me to understand a lot more about what goes on over in the factory. We got to see the bikes being built too which was a real eye-opener! I honestly think it will help my work on a day-to-day basis as it allows me to put everything into a wider context.”
More dealer reaction will appear in the BDN magazine
Full list of dealership attendees:
Chris Mallaber – Cornwall Kawasaki
Terence Donovan – GT Motorcycles
Andy Pearce – Laguna Motorcycles
Katie Cowdrey – Aylesbury Kawasaki
Mick Godfrey – Alf’s Motorcycles
Laurence Ferguson – Motoplus
Brian Neilson – Kirkcaldy Kawasaki
Dale Extance – Bournemouth Kawasaki
Craig Shirlaw – Shirlaws
Neil Steen – Wheels Motorcycles
Jonathan Hughes – Rochdale Kawasaki
Dave Brown – Wigan Kawasaki
Luke Gregory – Lloyd Cooper Motorcycles
Shelley Smith – Colchester Kawasaki
Matt Smith – Bikers
Lee Anthony – Bridge Motorcycles
Steve Hodder – Bristol Kawasaki
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