Kanza

You have a fair assessment, but HPI has more than one pan on the stove. Monster trucks for nitro and electric, gas trucks, truggies (the Hellfire and LSP), competition touring cars for both nitro and electric classes, electric rock crawlers, and a 5th scale gas buggy among other things. Also, as I had mentioned, they offer most of their popular vehicles and high end kits, which is something Traxxas has never done (it just isn't part of their philosophy). It is true that Traxxas has created an image of itself as "the monster truck company", but that's a bit too one dimensional for me.

True, the Savage has been around for a bit, but HPI never intended it to be a race truck. They offer a pile of race parts for the line, but the basic layout of the truck screams "monster", and that's what has made it so popular. Does the Savage need to evelve in order to stay competitive? Absolutely. Can the current design be pushed even further? Again, yes. The upgrade products that folks like Chronic, Fastlane, Rock Concepts, and Hardcore have developed are proof. Personally, I can see a factory built mid-tank Savage down the road. It all depends on whether HPI sees the market necessity for it. We pleaded for a kit version of the first truck and they delivered. If we continue to show a demand for this stuff HPI will probably continue to listen to us and push the existing design even further.

Another thing to consider is the amount of factory aftermarket upgrades HPI manufactures for the Savage. Very few companies have developed and released as many aftermarket parts for a single vehicle than what HPI makes for the Savage. That alone tells me that they are more than willing to listen to their customers.