FOUR NEW MODELS, WHILE FIVE DEPART





Summer is well underway and all the 2019 scooter models are now in showrooms (and even a few 2020 models) so we’ll take this opportunity to summarize the state of the North American scooter scene including the arriving and departing models.









In total there are four new models hitting the market, about six updated models depending on how you count Vespa’s special editions, and a further five discontinued models. That leaves 45 scooter models on the North American market across the nine major brands we cover here on MSG. That’s down moderately from the 54 model peak in 2015. Once you are familiar with the new models, please

take a second to vote for your favorite

new 2019 scooter in our poll:









New Scooters



BMW C 400 GT (Canada only)

Genuine Grand Tourer 150

Honda



Vespa

(2020 model)





Updated Scooters



Aprilia



Piaggio



Vespa S Edition (Sprint, Primavera)

Vespa Notte Edition (Sprint, GTS)

Vespa Yacht Club Edition (Primavera, GTS)

Vespa 50th Anniversary Edition





Discontinued Scooters





Suzuki



BMW



Yamaha



Yamaha



Vespa

















New 2019 Scooters



2019 hasn’t been a great year for new scooters, with three or four new machines, two updated models plus a slew of special editions from Vespa, and three discontinued scooters (plus several discontinued editions and trims).



The three machines which count as “new” for 2019 are Genuine’s Grand Tourer 150 (shown above), Honda’s third generation of the

, and BMW has a new nameplate called the C 400 GT but only in Canada.



Genuine’s

is a new but vintage styled model which replaces the

in Genuine’s lineup after the manufacturer of the Stella (LML) hit business woes in 2017. The Grand Tourer is not the “living fossil” from the 70’s that the Stella was, but rather a rebranded Scomadi model from the confusing chaos surrounding the revival of the Lambretta name. Read more about the debate over the revival of the Lambretta name

.











The third generation PCX was unveiled way back in summer 2018 (and

). The 2019 PCX looks similar to the prior generations but is a complete reworking of the model. Unfortunately it’s not coming to Canada, so the Ruckus is left as Honda’s only scooter there in a thin lineup reminiscent of 1998.



BMW Canada further adds a new nameplate in the

(shown at the top of the page), which is arguably a new model. It’s a new name but the scooter itself builds heavily off their

model, with the “GT” suffix indicating a touring - rather than sport - slant to the style and cockpit.



We’ll count one more new model here, which is Vespa’s Elettrica. The Elettrica is technically a 2020 model but it is in stock this summer. The Elettrica is Vespa’s first electric scooter and provides 150cc like acceleration but a 50cc like top speed of 30 mph (which they need to improve). The $7500 USD MSRP isn’t frugal but charging costs for the 4 kWh battery (about 50 cents) certainly are. Range is 60 miles or 100 km. Any overseas model (“Elettrica X”) doubles that, but isn’t offered in North America.













Updated 2019 Scooters



There’s a longer list of updated models, thanks mostly to Vespa. Aprilia has made some tweaks to their

, which frankly aren’t very substantial (e.g. new graphics, instruments and passenger pegs) but we’ll count it here because it’s Aprilia’s only scooter model and updates from them are scarce. You can read more detail on the updates

.









Also updated is Piaggio’s MP3 500 Sport, which returns sporting an

(e.g. traction control) and ergonomics (e.g. new backrest and seat).



It would be a quick task of running down the updated models except Vespa picked 2019 to unveil countless new variants of their scooters. Full details are on the

, but to sum it up, Vespa took their existing “S” special editions plus devised three new editions (“Notte”, “50th Anniversary” and “Yacht Club”) and sprinkled those editions across many of their regular models.



The S edition was previously available only for the

, but for 2019 it’s an option on the Sprint 50 and

as well. T

he Notte edition (below) adds blacked out trim and is available on the Sprint 50 and 150, as well as the

. The Yacht Club model features sailing inspired two tone coloring (blue and white) and is available on the Primavera 50 / 150 and GTS. Lastly, the 50th Anniversary model comes in two new colors (light blue and brown) with grey rims and an anniversary logo and tweaks the graphics and trim.













Finally, a quick mention that Genuine’s Rattler 50 has returned after more than a decade away (although they’ve sold the Roughouse all along which is nearly identical).







Departing Scooters





There are 3 to 7 departing models for 2019 depending on how you count it. The most notable of these is Suzuki’s

, which is a legendary scooter and has had its demise

- only to return in updated form. We’ll see if Suzuki has another update coming, as some rumours suggest. If not, this is goodbye to a respected legend of the scooter scene and one of the most popular scooters of the past 15 years.









Also gone is the Sport version of BMWs C 650 (aka

) which leaves just the C 650 GT on that platform. The third “definitely gone” model is Yamaha’s

, which finally ends its 17 year run (2002 - 2018) dating back to the 2002 - 2005 resurgence of the small scooter market.



The rest of the departing models are only certain model variants, or discontinuations in some markets. Yamaha trimmed the single headlight “FX” or “X” version of their

leaving just the regular bug eye model. Honda also trimmed back their Canadian lineup by not introducing the third generation of

there, while Vespa trimmed off older variants on the

while also adding new ones. The GTV and GTS Super Sport are discontinued, while the GTS 300, GTS Super 300 and GTV Sei Giorni live o

n alongside new editions described above.



Overall, it’s a fairly level year for the scooter scene with similar numbers of new and departing models, although the average age of models on the market is getting up there. eBikes are continuing to threaten the small scooter market. It’s been a couple years since anyone introduced a new 50cc.