Case study · Custom website

AXA Racing: Three Brands, One Website, a Custom Platform in Days

Daniel Hauser
· 3 min read
AXA Racing: Three Brands, One Website, a Custom Platform in Days

The brief sounded simple: turn several websites into one. Custom, fast, and easy enough for the dealer's team to manage without a developer. But hidden behind that one sentence was the biggest challenge of the whole project: the data.

3brands in one catalogue
3 daysfrom empty repository to full website
12sections in the custom admin
1data model for every vehicle

Starting point: three worlds, three formats

AXA Racing is the official dealer for three brands: Polaris, CFMOTO and GOES. Each manufacturer publishes its vehicle data differently. Models and sub-models are named differently, and so are colours, technical specs and homologations. Sometimes a colour is just a name, sometimes a code, sometimes a photo. Some "sub-models" are actually separate vehicles with their own price.

Had we simply copied the data over, customers would have been comparing apples to oranges, and the sales team would have had to chase every price or colour change across three different places.

The solution: one model for every vehicle

Before a single screen was designed, we built a data model that could hold every vehicle from all three brands. Model, sub-models, prices, model years, colours with colour codes and swatch photos, homologations (T1B, T3B, L7e) and full technical specs, from engine to payload. We set firm rules for the data: vehicle images always on a transparent background, no product with incomplete data, and an empty field rather than a guess.

The biggest challenge wasn't the design or the code. It was getting three manufacturers' data into one shape, so it could be compared and so the client could maintain it themselves.
AXA Racing website homepage
A dark stage, neon lime and a big hero shot. The website has the same drive as the machines.

A custom admin instead of compromises

Off-the-shelf content management systems are built for articles, not for a vehicle catalogue full of colour variants. So we built a custom admin tailored exactly to the way the dealer works:

  • products from all three brands with variants, colours and specs, including manual ordering,
  • stock vehicles and demo vehicles with galleries and test-ride booking,
  • an events calendar, team-building and service,
  • homepage slides, featured vehicles and homepage sections,
  • catalogues, categories, contacts and general pages,
  • website enquiries that go straight to the sales team.

Why a custom platform on Next.js

The website runs on Next.js, a modern framework that powers the sites of major brands. Pages are generated ahead of time, so they load instantly, yet content can be changed from the admin at any moment. No third-party plugins that need constant updating, no unnecessary scripts. The result is a fast website that search engines read easily, and a platform we can keep building on.

And that is exactly what's happening. Since launch, we've added an accessories catalogue, a stock vehicle gallery and a demo vehicle section with test-ride booking. Every new feature goes into the same system, with no need to rebuild the site.

AXA Racing on mobile
The catalogue and enquiry form work just as well in the palm of your hand as on a big monitor.

How it came together in just a few days

Through a mix of experience and modern tools. Design, data model and development were all in one person's hands, so nothing got lost in hand-offs between agencies. We automated the routine work, such as converting product data and images or checking dozens of colour variants, while what matters most, the data rules, the design and fine-tuning the details, stayed in human hands.

The result

One website instead of several, one catalogue for three brands, and an admin where the dealer's team can handle everyday changes on their own. Plus a platform that grows along with the business.

Have a similar project?

Write a few lines about what you need. I will get back to you personally.

Discuss a project