The LX150 remains the Vespa marque's most popular scooter this year.

Back in 2008 Piaggio North America had one of its best years ever as skyrocketing gas prices provoked commuters to think twice about their chosen form of transportation. The scooter business was booming and everyone set to profit from the growth was smiling from ear to ear.

Then gas prices fell, and so did scooter sales. Established dealers were left with models on the floor that nobody wanted, and many new dealerships that had sprung up in response to scooter fever found themselves closing as quickly as they had opened.

Now, a couple of years later, US scooter sales are once again on the rise as gas prices (and the economy in general) prove challenging.

The LA Times business desk released a story yesterday highlighting scooter sales for all the major manufacturers are now up close to 30% over equivalent quarter sales from 2010. Importantly, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council, this rise in sales is above and beyond any other category of powered two wheeler.

A quick glance at Piaggio’s Vespa USA site certainly confirms that the brand is going after cash-strapped commuters in a big way with the brand continuing to push the daily savings provided by, “Vespanomics.”

Also of interest is that Piaggio in particular are seeing a rise in larger-capacity sales with scooters in the 150cc-300cc seeing significant growth as, one assumes, consumers look to bikes that can get them off the back-streets and out on the highway without making the transition to a higher capacity motorcycle.

The Times also leverages the article to introduce its coverage of the scooter exhibit currently on show at the Petersen Automotive Review. You can see photographs and read our review of the exhibition here, or click on through to the LA Times photo gallery of the show for more.

For the full LA Times article, click here.

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