Yep, they may have sold more bikes had they updated with significant changes. But those changes would not be free so there are two questions that need to be answered: 1) how much more, if any at all, will the customer pay for the bike with these changes and 2) how many will be sold as a direct result of those changes. My guess is that the answer to those questions is 1) not much, if any at all and 2) not nearly enough.
It is easy for us as customers to demand things and say that we would buy XXX if they only added YYY and improved ZZZ and so forth. But it is another thing entirely to actually plunk money down on the proverbial table. And no manufacturer can spend imaginary money.
Think of it this way: perhaps your boss or the people directly responsible for your compensation might say 'Gee, it would be worth an extra $$$ if Jim learned how to take care of this or that, and also if he was [faster, spent longer on the job, etc., etc.]. But at the end of the quarter or year, do you really think if you do work harder anyone is going to shovel money at you? Of course I am not singling you out here, just making an example.... we are all, always in the same boat in this regard.
And in all honesty, I doubt there is anything short of a 100 pound gold bar that Kawasaki could have put on a C-14 that would have steered you or virtually anyone away from a twin cylinder, air cooled cruiser and onto a water cooled, in-line four sport touring bike. Again, lots of us say things like that but when it comes time to actually plunk money down on the table, not so much.
When the C-14 first came out, I went to my local dealer and asked about buying one. I was told that they expected one in any day (literally) but it was already sold. And then they would be getting 2 per month and the next four were also spoken for so the soonest I could have one would be in three months, provided Kawasaki actually delivered on schedule. So I went to another dealer and bought the one he had on the floor. This was 25 July 2007, on a Wednesday. The following Saturday, I rode my new, shiny bike to the first dealer and found a brand new C-14 on the floor. The owner saw me come in and RAN over to me to tell me he had a C-14 in stock and was ready to deal..... and I pointed to mine out in his parking lot. Seems the first five people who "bought" C-14's did not / could not actually buy them, all backed out and all wanted their deposits back. Now these people actually put some money down ($500), so imagine how many he could have "sold" had he just taken verbal orders for them in advance?
I suspect Kawasaki has thought long and hard (Easy Boys!) about this, has done studies, and devotes considerable time and energy to trying their very best to serve up what they can actually sell. And they have a long history to look back on and temper any questionnaire results with a dose of reality to slow them down before doing something foolish.
Brian
Indian market is up...17% so far this year. HD's sales are down and losing market share.... I wonder to whom? So not all MC sales are languishing. Kawkers has basically shot themselves in the feet by only changing colors and making few minor improvements. I might have stayed on my C14 if something had come out interesting but it didn't and I didn't.