Is the 1/8th Gas Buggy market flooded?
On Tuesday I reported about the news that Technokit was to enter the 1/8th scale buggy market. At the time I noted that its a very flooded market and it would be bigger news if a manufacturer stated that they werent going to enter this class. Well i did a little research to follow up on that comment and was amazed to have come up with a list totalling 29 31 manufacturers (that i know of) that currently have, or are close to releasing, a 1/8th scale gas powered buggy. That is a huge number of players all fighting for the same piece of the pie, in a market that is becoming more crowded than a rush hour train in Bangladesh.
Who are these manufacturers and who really is left that can join in? Read More…
Like i’ve said before, it’s easier to see whos left. So who is left to join? Well from the main manufacturers you have Academy, Corally, Motonica, Schumacher, Serpent, Shepherd, Tamiya and Yokomo who have yet to join this class but these companies have very niche markets and are small to medium sized. With the exception of Schumacher who distribute the Nanda buggy in Europe i havent heard of any cross over plans or intentions for these manufacturers to join the buggy brigade but perhaps they will, if anyone knows different then please drop me a mail.
So who is already in this far from exclusive club? Well the list below shows the current lineup of manufacturers and brands currently with a car which totals 27 and with the addition of Team Associated, who are currently testing their own car, that makes 28. Associated no doubt influenced by owner Thunder Tiger and after seeing long time rivals Team Losi enter the class successfully with their 8ight buggy perhaps they were also more driven to enter. Technokit confirming their intentions makes it 29 although please let me know if i’m missing anyone.
UPDATE – I have added the Carson Specter and the Speedline SPR-11 to bring the total up to 31.
Manufacturers sorted alphabetically
Bergonzoni / The R1
Carson / The Specter
Caster Racing / The ZX-1R PRO
CEN / The Matrix
Crono / The RS03
GS Racing / The Storm CL1
Himoto / The RXB-1 Pro
HoBao / The Hyper 8
Hong Nor / The X1-CR
Hot Bodies / The Lightning 2 Pro
Kyosho / The Inferno MP777
Laro / The Diablo 5
Mugen / MBX-5R
Nanda / The NRB-3
Nuova Faor / The Matador
O Donnell / The O Donnell buggy
OCM Racing / The Kaos DT-19
OFNA Jammin / The X-1 CR/FT
Piktor / The Rush 2
Protech / The Yada Pro
Robitronic / The Protos
Sidorf / The R-1
Speedline / The SPR-11
Sportwerks / The Turmoil Pro
Team Losi / The 8ight
Team Magic / The M1B
Team Vertex / The VTX-B1
Thunder Tiger / The EB4 S3 Pro
Xray / The XB8 TQ
So as an answer to the question that i posed in the headline of this report ‘Is the 1/8th Gas Buggy market flooded?’ my answer is a resounding yes, but maybe this segment will continue to grow and can accomodate all these buggies, who knows? Let me have your thoughts in the comments section below.
Source: Red RC [redrc.net]
