BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) – Segway LLC executives acknowledge their self-balancing Human Transporters haven’t yet revolutionized human transportation.

When the two-wheeled devices were unveiled in December 2001, some supporters predicted millions would be sold. But a voluntary recall in fall 2003 showed only about 6,000 had.

The privately held company has responded with a reinvention under a new president and chief executive, Ron Bills. Bills, who will leave the company later this month, chalks up Segway’s initial problems to a poor business strategy.

“When we started out with this product, it was if you want to buy one, you’ve got to put $500 down, you’ve got to fly to New Hampshire for training, and then we’ll sell you one for $8,000,” he said in a recent interview at company headquarters.

Bills, a recreational vehicle industry veteran, began by comprehensively retooling Segway’s marketing. The firm’s latest promotion lets customers take a Segway home, free, to try it for up to three days. Prices also are down sharply, to about $4,000 for the cheapest model.

Bills began creating a nationwide dealer network, encouraged Segway rentals and renewed the focus on niche markets like police departments and companies with sprawling warehouses or factories. The company also is expanding internationally, and its engineers are designing new products, several of which are being readied for the market.

“There’s a lot of pockets of success in various areas, and we’re just getting started at international,” Bills said. “So I’d say the stability of our sales is there. Now we need to change the angle of the trajectory.”

Bills cited undisclosed personal reason for his departure. Company officials said they were pleased with his performance and probably would look for a successor with a similar background.

Segway inventor Dean Kamen, the company’s chairman, is not involved in its daily affairs.

Analysts praise some of the changes, but many remain skeptical. They point out that Segways remain much more expensive than their main competition: bicycles, powered scooters and walking.

“At the end it all boils down to a question of cost,” said Dan Benjamin, an analyst with ABI Research in New York.

Segway’s latest marketing portrays the machines as short-range alternatives to cars. But unlike cars, Segways have no trunks and offer no protection from rain, snow, heat or cold. Also, while most state and local ordinances are Segway-friendly, some bar Segways from sidewalks.

“This is not something different for most of the population than a bicycle, certainly not much different than a Vespa,” said Ted Schadler, a principal analyst with Forrester Research in Massachusetts. “Where is the revolution in conveyance? I don’t get it.”

Company officials have several answers to such criticism. One is to counsel patience, noting that similar naysaying greeted the introduction of the automobile a century ago. They also put great stock Segway’s raw appeal, comparing the sensation of riding it to hovering and moving by thought alone.

“Once you get someone on one, they want it,” said Klee Kleber, vice president for marketing.

To chief technology officer J. Douglas Field, the device responds like “a living creature.”

“A big part of the magic of the technology is the way it works with the human,” he said. “Instead of having accelerator pedals, brakes and all the sort of typical clutter of a vehicle to make it go forward, the machine just responds intuitively to the same software you developed when you learned how to walk.”

The dealer network, which Kleber said could reach 100 by the end of the year, will introduce more consumers to Segways. Dealerships also facilitate rentals, which help overcome sticker shock.

Analysts approve, but warn that dealerships and rentals won’t be a panacea. Renting a Segway can cost as much as renting a car, Benjamin said.

“You’re still talking about it as kind of a novelty,” he said, “and as a novelty, it’s going to remain a small-market product.”

Small markets add up, however. For example, Kleber said, Segways are catching on well with police and meter readers.

“Any job where people are going to be walking long distances, there’s a pretty clean and clear productivity argument we can make,” he said.

Seattle officials say they are using about 15 Segways, six for meter reading and the rest for other purposes. Chicago Segway dealer Jim Reynolds says police there use more than 50 Segways and have become key customers.

Overseas, the Keolis Group, a transportation company based in France, is promoting Segway tie-ins to public transit.

But cost will keep the Osceoloa County Sheriff’s Office in Kissimmee, Fla., from making widespread use of Segways. The decision came despite a successful six-month trial.

“We do plan on using it for special events,” said Deputy Al Dearmis. “That’s something that as far as budget, we’re going to have to look at.”

Some analysts believe the firm should focus less on people and more on businesses. Benjamin said Segway’s technology could be used in robots designed to move awkward loads around factories on stable, self-balancing platforms. He said some consumer products, such as self-leveling baby carriages or shopping carts, could possibly grow out of such applications.

Cost is an obstacle, Benjamin said, but less so for manufacturers than consumers.

“High upfront cost doesn’t scare a company that’s using it to manufacture hundreds of thousands of units,” he said. “If it can save them costs down the line, they’re going to use it.”

Kleber said the company is receptive and several universities are researching alternative uses for Segway technology. The firm’s longest-range plans hinge on ongoing prototype research.

Segway unveiled its first new machine, a four-wheeler named Concept Centaur, in October. Centaurs can balance on their rear two wheels or ride on all four. They weigh about 150 pounds and can reach 20 mph.

There are no plans to market them yet, but some new products are coming.

“We have dozens of ideas we’re working on,” Field said, “and a carefully selected set of three or four major projects that are being readied for production.”

Other new products are simple. A rack in the company’s catalog transforms the machines into single-person golf carts, potentially opening a new market.

The company also says it will work to offer longer-lasting batteries by next year. Segways travel only about 10 miles on a charge, which analysts call extremely limited for an electric vehicle.

Bills said the company still could revolutionize transportation, and Kleber said the company’s early performance, while not record-breaking, has been realistic.

“That’s the classic pattern a company like this will go through,” Kleber said. “You go to extreme tech enthusiasts. Then you find the groups that really get quite a bit of value out of your product. You sell to them, then over time, the mass market.”

AP-ES-12-04-04 0942EST