Modern Vespa

Their "stance" is based on the 2005 model taking over 5 years to sell out. From that they learned that there isn't enough market potential in the US to bother. They would have to go through EPA certification all over again, and they would still face 3 major obstacles to selling enough scooters in the US to make that worthwhile:

1. Can't sell 2T in Calif
2. Can't sell 2T in Calif
3. Can't sell 2T in Calif

They are selling sufficient numbers of PX 150s elsewhere in the world to keep the line up and running at a profit. Why produce a US spec model at a loss?

Not entirely on topic but... I had an interesting conversation with a guy last night who has run a scooter business for quite a few years. Parts only now the last year or two, goes to Eicma (spelling?) every year etc.

Apparently when they stopped production of the px, it was about space at Pontadera rather than emissions etc. The PX line was occupied only a few hours a week and was a dedicated line. Whereas the rest of the factory was upgraded to Japanese-style lines, where any model could be assembled on any line. The PX takes longer to put together as well. He wasn't sure where the current PX fits into this system.

LML - he said that the importer of LMLs into Italy (forgot to ask who that is) sold tons, especially during the non-PX years of course... and that they have a fantastic reputation with very few warranty issues.
Apparently this was because they literally had a production line in Italy where they would uncrate, tear them down, fix known issues and weed out any that were sub-par. Those ones were sent back to India.
They could do this because they were buying them for about $800US and selling them for $2500-ish.
So LML got to know what was expected and only sent the good ones... apparently the other European dealers sort of gave up and started buying from the Italian importer directly.

So of course that left me wondering what happened to the not-so-good LMLs... the ones with the less than perfct cranks and ordinary wiring etc. I guess the rest of the world is a big place.

Rob Hodge may be able to put some perspective on this.

Here in the UK I thought 2 stroke engines were exempt from emission laws.

I'm not sure the EU emissions standards discriminate between 2T and 4T. From what I understand, as long as a gasoline engine meets the EU emissions standards for the category of vehicle, the type (2 or 4 T) is not relevant. After all, it is the emissions that are being limited. Doesn't matter how they are produced.