After reading the article titled: 'Scooters - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly', I would like to add/correct 2 things:

-the relationship between Bajaj, LML, SIL (all 3 of India) and Piaggio (Vespa) & Innocenti (Lambretta) is a license relationship. When dealing with protectionist countries abroad, or when it proved too risky or difficult to establish a foreign dealership network with foreign-standard vehicles, the inventors of scooters (Piaggio, then Innocenti), established licenses with these markets. In Franco's Spain, Motovespa first imported Vespa parts to assemble in Spain, then made their own parts; Eibar and Serveta produced Lambretta scooters. In India, Bajaj produced the rugged and dependable older Vespas; LML still makes the P-range clones. SIL bought the tooling and licenses to make the Lambretta range when Innocenti dropped it in 1971. For years, the build standards were poor on Indian scooters: oval wheels, bad paint jobs were frequent. But they were the kings of the road in a country where roads are in terrible shape anyways, and Vespas are used like minivans in the U.S.: to transport the whole family, with often 3 generations on the same scooter. As an American living in France, I've enjoyed having Vespas in both countries, as cheap and stylish transportation on both sides, allowing me to go to business appointments fast in suits without getting dirty, and providing myself with a sympathetic and friendly conversation item to break the ice. Vespas are far more dependable than any japanese scooter will ever be (my 1980 P200E still runs reliably on it's original 100,000 + mile engine, and the body is still solid, even after all these years). Chinese, Korean and Japanese scooters, besides being ugly euro-scooter clones, are only made to last the duration of the warranty. Their market is the bargain-seeker. Their goal: make fast money with crappy, but cheap bikes. If they don't fill that part of the market, a chinese neighbor will. Italian scooters are still made to please a faithful, but shifty-when-disappointed local market. Most have a reputation they can't afford to lose.Once you've understood that, you know the culture behind the product you're getting. And when your life is at stake, cheap is not a viable deal.

-about chinese companies catering to European makers, I don't know what companies you're talking about. I know Peugeot has japanese parts/engines, and MBK is now mostly Yamaha, but as far as the Italians are concerned, the bodies, engines, tires, electrical parts are all Italian. Some may use Keihin (Jap) instead of Dell'Orto or Amal (Italian) carbs; but with most scooters now being fuel-injected, the mapping is usually Bosch (German) or Sagem (French). Which leaves the spark plugs possibly being NGK (Jap) if not Bosch, Champion, or other Euro-U.S. brands. I still can't figure out what role the Chinese might play in the construction of Italian bikes, if any at all...