The Core’s speeder makers fight with their hands to produce lower-cost speeders and erase Aratech’s lead in developing cheaper, more consumer-friendly models, executives said at this year’s Coruscant Speeder Show.
“We have to close the cost gap with some Lothal players that started on the latest generation of speeders,” SoroSuub told HoloNet News at the show, adding that prices will also go down when manufacturing costs decline.
SoroSuub said as part of the Sullust’s drive toward price parity with Lothal, its Z-36 due out next year, will be 25% to 30% cheaper than its popular V-35 model.
Aratech, headquartered in Lothal, is targeting the Core Planets landspeeder market, where sales soared nearly 55% to about 820,000 vehicles in the first seven months of last season, making up about 13% of all ground speeder sales.
Aratech plans to expand into more Core Planet markets next year and announced five models for galactic markets, including Coruscant, over the next two seasons.
According to repulsor consultancy Inovevo, 8% of new speeders sold on Coruscant so far this year were made by Aratech, up from 6% last season and 4% the previous season.
About 41% of exhibitors at this year’s event are headquartered in the Outer Rim, with double the number of Outer Rim companies attending, including Aratech, Zebulon Dak, and repulsor engine maker SR TECH.
The arrival of Lothal makers in the Core has raised concerns they could dominate speeder sales.
“We are losing our competitiveness,” said Hilde Muell, president of the Coruscant Association of the Repuslor Industry (CARI), adding the Coruscant Speeder show illustrated “how the high pressure of international competition” makes it essential for planetary governments to invest more in speeder development.
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