Modern Vespa

Pardon my naive question, but, as I read so many good things about the GTS 250, I wonder why it was discontinued (only in US market?)?

As in, some may want a less expensive, and maybe lighter machine, but above the 150 class to be a wee bit more comfortable on highways?

The GTS 300 weighs no more than the 250 (there are different mumbers for the 250, but between 153/158kg). the current GTS 300 is 163kg due to the assistance systems. So negligible.

The GTS 300 actually only has 278cc (compared to 244cc).

Two very similar engines would increase production costs, warehousing, spare parts costs etc. for Piaggio and the dealers. I assume that this would not result in a significant price advantage for the 250.

Apart from that, the 250 engine would probably no longer meet the current emission limits in the EU.

You left out the GT200. Same question, no? Seems it's a significant step up from the LX in performance (leaving the body out of the mix). It seems there's always an interest in a little more performance, and changing things up is just part of marketing.

The Quasar engine (244cc) was not going to pass the new Euro emissions standards due to be rolled out in 2010, so piaggio had to develop a newer design. Piaggio bumped displacement to 278cc in order to maintain similar performance levels.

The jump from the GT 200 to the GTS 250 was more significant in terms of the change over from Carburetor to EFI and a bit more power. The GTS250 only gained one hp (21 for the GT200, 22 for the GTS250), but gained a fair amount in terms of torque (12.9 ft/lbs for the GT200, 15 ft/lbs for the GTS250). You notice this with better acceleration and hill climbing.

All of these are very close in terms of overall performance, up to the HPE GTS models.

Personally, I think the GTS 250 is the most desireable. I prefer the LCD digital dash presentation with trip meter, Tachometer, external temperature and integrated clock. I thought the full analog dash launched in 2010 was a step back.

The problem with the digi-dash is that the polarising layers would darken over time - a very poor and under-researched design.

The better 'analogue' displays are in fact digital under the skin, with stepping motors driving the needles, but Piaggio went old-school for some of these instead.

As far as I know the 250 was discontinued and replaced by the 300 for reasons that have been described here.
It was not only in the US, it was also in Europe.

Next to that Piaggio may make different choices for different markets.

As an example: I have a BV300ie from 2012. The BV300ie was introduced in 2009. In 2012 the BV350ie was introduced. I think from 2013 or so onwards Piaggio decided to only offer the 350 over here, while in Italy both the 300 and 350 remained in the catalogue.
Belgium is a small market and Piaggio over here is all about Vespa. BV's and other Piaggio scooters, Liberty, Meddley, MP3 are all small volume in sales.
And for both the BV300 and the BV350 you need an A2 license.

Another example is 125cc versus 150cc. In many markets Piaggio offers 150cc versions, but not here. A 125cc is A1, a 150 is A2, and furthermore if you have a B license for a car you can easiliy extend that with an A1, but much more difficult with an A2.
So no market for 150cc.

It's the logical path of our species ending in total annihilation of the species and planet. Camel is replaced by horse which is replaced by bicycle, replaced by car. Intel 286 was replaced by 486 replaced by your phone. BV200 was replaced by the 300 which was replaced by the 350 which was shoved aside for the 400. More, More, More, Bigger, Bigger, Bigger with zero regard for the consequences or where it all ends.

To quote Ed Grimley... "We are as doomed as doomed can be!"