GAS Imports recently held a launch for the fresh new range of 2014 Thor MX gear that will hit the market later this year.

Thor MX’s Jamie Foreman jetted in from the United States to present the brand’s newest products, and MotoOnline.com.au got in touch to find out a little bit more about the new range and the launch strategy for the Aussie market.

You’re here to release the 2014 Thor gear, welcome to Australia.

Thanks for having me back! GAS brought me over again this season to launch the 2014 product for Thor – the full collection. We’re really excited to introduce some new products this year.

Some of those items are the Verge helmet, which is a new helmet we released in the US in April this year. It is replacing our Force helmet that has been in our collection for five years. We’re really excited that we were able to shave down quite a bit of weight, as well as the overall size of the helmet. It’s 1280 grams. It’s going to be Australian-certified by the 1st of August. Helmets will be available probably from the end of November to the first part of December and we’ve got nine colour ways.

I’m also really excited about introducing a new set of gear called the Prime Race Wear, which is a very minimalist gear. It’s unique – I think there are a couple of other companies that are making something similar, but we’ve been able to bring the technology of a four-way stretch material into an extremely thin and lightweight gear set. It’s a full-grain leather knee with kevlar stitching, almost like wearing a pair of sweatpants when you’re riding, pretty amazing stuff.

Thor’s new for 2014 Verge Helmet is expected to be a popular addition.

It’s a big investment to bring you out to Australia for GAS Imports, and for Thor, in terms of your own time as well. What sort of strategy is involved with these releases around the time of July?

Australia is a very important market for us. I know I said this last year, and I don’t want to repeat myself, but the bottom line is that the Australian market is very important to us. GAS Imports is one of our largest distributors outside of our parent company Parts Unlimited and Parts Europe, so we’re happy to come over and share the product and share the excitement that we have in the product range and the product line with Australian racers and riders.

It’s good for GAS, it’s good for us, it’s showing Australia that we’re committed to the brand and we’re committed to the marketplace here, and we think that’s very important. There are a lot of similarities between the United States and Australia – the people, the riding, and whatnot. We’re proud of the brand and proud to bring it here, I think it’s a worthwhile investment.

You mentioned the helmet and the new gear styles. It seems like that, where it used to be just about the gear, it’s important to have the helmet and the boots and the whole package?

Absolutely. I think you can tie the whole thing in, with boots, gloves, helmets, protection – as I said we’re really proud of the products we’ve created and developed and I think it’s necessary to tie in a complete package. It’s important to offer those pieces – quality pieces – and that’s one of the things we talked about in our launch.

We are a premier brand, and we’ve been around since 1968. We have a slogan that we use in our office; on the gate since ’68. Torsten Hallman brought the race wear over from Sweden, created a company and actually sold the product out the back of his car. Since Parts Unlimited, our parent company, purchased us back in the 90’s, they’ve invested a lot of time, money and effort into the brand and it’s something we’re proud of and want to keep going strong.

Thor’s 2014 Prime Racewear has been developed to offer a higher level of apparel.

With regards to pricing of products in Australia, I know it’s really important that the consumer purchases through the national distributor – that’s all part of the strategy for you guys?

Absolutely, and this rings true in Australia as much as it does in any other part of the world. In order for motorcycle dealers worldwide to sell the product, you’ve got to have it in your store. By not making it available for the consumer to buy, you’re forcing the consumer to go to an online retailer, whether it be in the country or out of the country.

I think it’s important for the consumer to buy from their local store, their national distributor, and again, if you don’t have it, you can’t sell it. I’m an impulse buyer, like most men, and when I make up my mind to buy something, I want to walk into a store and I want to walk out of it and I get that immediate satisfaction. There’s no cooling off period where I’ll think maybe I should have shouldn’t have ordered that, and you’ve got to wait five or seven days or so. If I can leave with any one thing, you’ve got to have it in order to sell it.

There’s a saying in the United States, they say, build it and they will come. We built it, we’re ready for the consumers to buy it, and GAS Imports is committed to the brand like we are in the United States.