We won’t sugarcoat it; the economy stinks these days!  The media is no longer cramming terms like “The Great Recession” down our collective throats but we aren’t naive enough to take that to mean things have somehow gotten better.  And even with doom and gloom all around, the ATV market continues to flourish with more performance models available this year than had been throughout the entire decade and a half prior.  Spanish company Gas Gas has yet to make a splash on the US market but this had a lot more to do with a lack of domestic importers than it did the quality or performance of their machines.

With a history more solidified in the weird and wild world of trials machinery, it wasn’t until the mid 1990s that the company shifted its scope to include a wide range of off-road performance vehicles, not unlike the product lines typically witnessed from the Japanese OEMs.

Despite domestic off-road & ATV sales numbers coming in at roughly half of where they usually are this time of year, Gas Gas has decided to take another swing at the US market and formed a new importer/ distributor network through Gas Gas USA.

Gas Gas has already held its 2010 model launch and from what we’ve gathered, looks to offer some serious competition to the performance ATV segment in the form of the Wild 450.

The Wild features a 449 cc single-cylinder, 4-stroke with 4-valve cylinder head, electronic fuel injection, hydraulic clutch, and a 6-speed gearbox.

Spec-wise, the Wild 450 seems right in the hunt with the American and Japanese 450 entries.  The model’s success will depend heavily upon the dealer network/ OEM support.  Here’s hoping Gas Gas USA will make its presence known here in the United States as having more viable options at the time of purchase benefits the consumer most.

For more on the Gas Gas Wild 450:

http://www.gasgas.com/quads.htm