The Vento Colt belongs to the range of Vento, an American brand whose name is the Italian word for wind. Vento Motorcycles, Inc. assembled motorcycles, scooters, ATVs and off-road vehicles in Laredo, Texas, and sold them through a network that reached more than 30 American states.
Vento Colt at a glance
| Model | Vento Colt |
|---|---|
| Brand | Vento |
| Company | Vento Motorcycles, Inc., United States |
| Name meaning | “wind” in Italian |
| Assembly plant | Laredo, Texas, opened in 1998 |
| Headquarters by 2006 | San Diego, California |
| Dealers in the USA | over 175 |
| Outlets worldwide | over 300 |
| US sales, FY2003 | 17,840 units |
| Sales abroad, 2003 | 77,600 motorcycles in seven markets |
| Model page | no dedicated Wikipedia article; facts from the brand page |
based on one source: there is no dedicated Wikipedia page for the Colt, so the article draws on the Vento manufacturer article.
History of the Vento Colt
An assembly operation
From 1998 Vento ran an assembly and quality-control plant at Laredo, Texas. Components were brought to the site, put together there and checked before the finished vehicles were shipped. The Colt is one of the models that passed through this system.
Head office in California
By 2006 the company’s headquarters were in San Diego, California, where product design and development and customer support were handled. Assembly and quality control stayed in Laredo, and a marketing, product development, dealer and distributor support centre operated from Melbourne, Florida.
Numbers from the sales side
Vento’s sales organisation counted more than 175 dealers in more than 30 American states and more than 300 outlets worldwide. In the 2003 financial year it sold 17,840 units in the United States; in the same year 77,600 Vento motorcycles were sold in Chile, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Russia combined, a total that included highway motorcycles, scooters, utility vehicles and ATVs. The brand’s small-displacement two-wheelers were strong enough in Mexico to outsell Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki together.
Design and features
- Assembly in Texas: built up and quality-checked at Laredo.
- American management: run from San Diego with support in Melbourne, Florida.
- Large dealer network: more than 175 dealers in the United States.
- Italian name: vento means wind.
Vento Colt versions
- Colt: the model described here.
- Other Vento models: see the linked articles for the scooters and off-road vehicles.
Other models of the brand are described in the articles on the Vento Triton and the Vento Thunderstar, and all of them appear in the Vento collection.
Sources
- Vento (motorcycle manufacturer), English Wikipedia: company, facilities, sales network
