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International Karting Industry Buyer's Guide

GO KARTING!
A Guide To The World's Most Popular Motorsport.

Kart Expo International

Yes, that’s right! For 20 years before KMI, I worked for an aftermarket kart parts manufacturer and retailer and kept concise records, tracking sales month by month, year by year. My records consistently indicated that when the national economy was in “recession”, kart racing thrived and when the economy was stable, sales slowed measurably. Then along came the 1990s and the huge interest in motorsports. All of a sudden, we had a booming economy and kart racing sales were going through the roof, which blew my hypothesis all to pieces.  But not for long.

Now, we’re seeing what may or may not be an abrupt turn around or perhaps just an adjustment or self-correction somewhat like we’re seeing in the stock market. We have has numerous reports from around the racing industry indicating that sales seem to be down or at least flat last year. But before we all panic, I think we have to put this so-called downturn into true perspective and ask ourselves a few pointed questions.

First, the question needs to be asked, “Are last years sales percentage losses (or gains) measured against 1999 sales (reportedly a good year) or are they based on an average sales of the last decade?” If you want to play the “sales are really down” game without actually taking into consideration the “real” numbers, so be it. But if you really want to know what is going on, the numbers should be tallied and then take an on-average base from a number of years to work from. You shouldn’t base the fact that you may be down in sales based on 1999 sales alone because it is not an accurate, true gauge of how things “really” are.

Secondly, and perhaps, more importantly, the question needs to be asked, “Is the karting pie being cut into too many pieces?” There are and have been for many years, approximately 100,000 active kart racers in the USA. When a sport enjoys an upswing in popularity as has all motorsports in the last few years, new dealer/distributors and importers and manufacturers jump on-board hoping to get a piece of the action. The karting pie is now obviously divided into smaller pieces which would certainly indicate lower individual company sales, but perhaps suggest an overall increase in total industry sales.

But, there is another concern, too. The so-called “upswing” in popularity of kart racing may have brought some new people into the sport, but the total numbers do not seem to show much of an increase therefore indicating that the karting pie is really not any larger. Of major concern is that the sport cannot seem to retain the existing karter, which is shown by the fact that kart racing is still at the same level of participation as it has been for a number of years. The truth be told, kart racing seems to have an appalling turnover factor, whereby hundreds of karters seem to disappear each year.

Another significant problem is that of gaining new participants for the sport. While the popularity of motorsports and therefore karting has been able to somewhat replenish the ranks in the sport, a massive influx of karters has not been seen. Ask the typical person-on-the-street what karting or go-karting is and a huge majority will answer either fun karts or concession karting. Few, if any, even realize that there is indeed a motorsport called “kart racing”, even after all these years. The reason for this is a lack of “sport marketing” on the part of the associations and the industry as a whole. 

A SOLUTION?

Before solutions to the problems in kart racing can be addressed, it must be understood that everyone, from the national, regional and local association to the kart shops, manufacturers and importers, right down to the local kart clubs and tracks have a stake in the growth of the sport.

To increase the size of the karting pie, therefore sales and profits, the number of participants need to be increased. But, a single solution to these problems may not easily be obtained, but the dilemma certainly needs to be addressed by all the sanctioning and trade associations and the entire kart racing industry TOGETHER if the situation is going to be improved.

The paradox is that I don’t see it becoming reality until and unless each and every group recognizes that there are indeed problems and then work together toward common goals.

In reality, kart racing needs to design and launch a massive marketing campaign whereby the general public (you know, the ones who buy products), is made aware of the awesome nature of kart racing. We need to increase the number of karters and keep the existing ones. While there are no guarantees, a well thought-out  marketing program has the potential to increase awareness, therefore participation and sales!

But, of course, it is going to take a commitment by everyone involved, not just “chin music”, but the money necessary to make it happen. But, as in anything worth doing, it will take a pledge to correct the problems or at the very least, a willingness to search for solutions and set aside politics and personal agendas and work for the common good.

The bottom line is that the more karters there are, the more products that will be sold. The more products sold will spell perhaps continued success for the kart racing industry… but the first steps need to be taken today, not tomorrow.
 

END
 
 
 

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