Market reports – Beautiful month of September for motorcycle sales –

Beautiful September for motorcycle sales

Market reports - Beautiful month of September for motorcycle sales -

With 20,849 registrations in September 2008, the motorcycle market recorded an increase in its immates of 11.4% compared to September 2007. Results to make the automobile market green with envy, even if the volumes did not increase. nothing to see…

In September 2008, the dealerships remained open for 20 days, which is exactly as much as in September 2007. But with one less Saturday (4 in 2008 and 5 in 2007), the performance of the French motorcycle market must be highlighted: 20,849 motorcycles registered last month compared to 18,718 last year, which represents a significant increase of 11.4% !

Sunny and mild from a meteorological point of view, the start of the school year has been brilliant for motorcycles, whether they have a volume of – a little less than – 125 cc or more !

With 11,813 units sold, the 125 sign an increase of 12.8% compared to September 2007. Among them, we obviously note the excellent results of the "GT" scooters which rise to the first five places in sales, ahead of three motorcycles and a host of low-cost vehicles, whose presence in the top 15 is becoming more and more frequent.

The big cubes also achieve an excellent score: + 9.6% compared to September 2007, or 9,036 motorcycles of "more than 125 cc" registered last month. Motorcycles, of course, but also scooters: in addition to the best seller from Yamaha (Tmax), we find in the ranking of sales by model in September a Suzuki Burgman and a Yamaha Xmax 250 very well placed, as well as a Gilera GP800.

Market 125: 11,813 units (+ 12.8%)

Yamaha confirms in September its status as a leader in 125 cc: gaining nearly 22% of market share thanks to its Xmax and Majesty scooters (1070 and 288 registrations respectively) and its two YBR and YZF-R motorcycles (513 and 293), the French number one signs a final score with 2,584 registrations !

Everything is rolling for Yamaha in France, which totaled 20,530 sales at the end of the first nine months, or almost 21% of net sales. Compared to last year, the brand’s sales growth in tuning forks reached 17.3%. Something to make many of its direct competitors jealous…

First of all, Piaggio, which is suffering a severe correction this year. Its results – provisional – for 2008 are not famous: cumulatively, registrations of Italian fell by 18.9% to stand at 12,875 units. A general trend that we find in September…

Compared to September 2007, Piaggio’s sales in September 2008 have indeed fallen by 17% and only represent 12.73% of net sales. The XEvo is clearly present in 4th place in sales by model (585 registrations last month), but the MP3 125 is once again kept out of the top 15 (198 sales), while the X7 only achieves 115 registrations..

And Honda continues to put pressure on the Italian scooter specialist: with a 24.3% increase in sales compared to September 2007, the Japanese giant achieves almost the same volume as Piaggio (1,425 registrations against 1,504).

The S-Wing once again blows the spotlight a la Varadero: 559 license plates for the scooter and 394 for the motorcycle. We note in 15th place in the ranking of sales by model the presence of the Lead 110, a low-cost scooter that the brand offers at 40 € per month in LOA (rental with option to buy). Bodes well for the manufacturer who will offer another entry-level in 2009, the CBF 125 (read).

Behind the top three, Peugeot Motocycles is resisting and stealing from Suzuki its 4th place in the monthly ranking! The Satelis sold well in September (661 copies), but the rising score of the Sochaux Lion (+ 43.8% compared to September 2007) can be explained by the success of another scooter in the range…

And this is not the Peugeot Geopolis (51 sales of the large-wheeled scooter last month), but the low-cost – again! – "Peugeot QM125T" Sum-Up, which found 254 buyers. Thanks to him, Peugeot maintains its double-digit sales increase at the end of the first nine months of the year: + 10.1%, or 6.28% of PDM against 6.06 last year.

Suzuki is not left out, however, and signs an excellent increase of 43.7% compared to September 2007, which allows Suz ‘to consolidate its good progress over the first nine months: + 17.8%. Overall, the Hamamatsu firm has recorded 7,203 registrations, including 5,715 for its Burgman, still the second best seller in France..

The fight is still intensifying between MBK and Sym: last month, the Taiwanese overtook the "French", registering 552 registrations against 530 … The match between the two brands is also directly illustrated in the mano to mano that deliver their two best sellers: the GTS (269 registrations) and the Skycruiser (261) !

Overall, MBK still has the advantage: with 4,526 sales against 4,309 for Sym, it should be able to maintain its 6th place by the end of 2008! But next year, if Sym’s progress is maintained (+ 19.2% against 2.7 for the "French"), this 6th place could well escape him….

And the 7th place will not be easier to hold, since the Taiwanese Sym is hiding another: in the shadows, Kymco is indeed carving out an increasingly substantial market share….

Its Grand Dink and Agility rarely appear in the top 15 best sellers (162 and 158 sales respectively in September), but in the end "the other" Taiwanese still has 3.42% of the French market share and records a 44.8% increase in sales rate over the year.

Behind, the Korean Daelim and its S2 scooter are in their maturity phase (+ 8.5% over the first nine months) while the Chinese Jonway and its JS120 are growing: + 176.9% over the same period !

In September 2008, the "other" manufacturers posted a drop in their sales of 21.6%. In order, Aprilia registered 192 vehicles, Sky Team 179, Gilera 123, Yiying 108, Hyosung 103, Keeway 80, Derbi and Baotian 71, Znen 68, Jinlun and Revatto 64, KTM 63, TGB 59, Zhenhua 49 and Roadsign 47.

Market over 125: 9,036 units (+ 9.6%)

Among the "over 125", Suzuki was again the most efficient, registering 1,767 vehicles against 1,713 for Yamaha. Suz ‘therefore increases its weak lead over the first nine months: 333 more immats than Yam’, while last year this gap was 1,535 units..

It must be said that the big cubes of Yamaha mark very closely those of Suzuki: 3rd best seller again last month, the Bandit 650 (446 registrations) is framed by the Tmax (488) and the Fazer (423), while the GSR remains a tone below all best sellers with 310 units sold last month.

The Burgman 650 nevertheless climbed to 12th place in the ranking of sales by model with 144 registrations, but here again Yamaha has the answer: to reinforce its Tmax, the French number one – sales of "125 cc and more" – places in 15th place his Xmax 250 !

Behind these two Japanese are their compatriots Honda and Kawasaki, also engaged in a beautiful battle. But it seems that in this specific case, a winner is already looming…

Honda is taking full advantage of the arrival in dealerships of its new CB1000R roadster, which went well in September 2008 with 265 units registered. For comparison, the Yamaha FZ1 – best selling maxi roadsters in France last year – won over 135 bikers.

Honda therefore increases its number of registrations since January 2008 to 15,501 (+ 9.7% compared to 2007 over the same period), and will not be worried by Kawasaki which has 14,990 (+ 1.3%).

The Z750 continues to be the best-selling 125cc motorcycle in France (557 in September 2008), but the renewal of the ER-6s scheduled for next year should certainly slow down the Greens’ progress at the end of the year..

As proof, Kawa suffered a drop in sales of 7.8% last month and its ER-6 (n and f) are slowly letting go of the very best sales (364 immats). Thus, the Akashi firm signs a month of September 2008 down -7.8%.

BMW for its part recorded an increase in registrations of 4.1% (compared to September 2007). A relatively timid increase independent of the general increase observed for the entire market (+ 9.6%).

Equally distinguished in the market, Harley-Davidson and its customs do not seem to know the crisis: the manufacturer of Milwaukee registered in France last month 478 motorcycles, 59 more than in September 2007 (+ 14.1%).

For its part, Triumph marks a pause in its ascent: + 5.4% in sales between the months of September 2008 and 2007, against + 42.8% over the whole of the first nine months. Its Street Triple takes 10th place in the monthly ranking (153 registration cards) and the Hinckley factories continue to work at full speed.

Sales of the Austrian KTM fell 2.2% last month (9 sales fewer than in September 2007), establishing its decline since the start of the year at 6.8%. On the contrary, the Italian Ducati saw his figures climb by 34.4% last month, thanks to his Monster 696 (107 immats) … and "thanks" also to a difficult month of September 2007.

Still 10th in the manufacturer’s rankings, Piaggio limited the drop in sales to 13.2% last month. A decline in shape (-21.8% over the first nine months) which hides the success of its Gilera brand and its GP800: 79 registrations in September 2008.

Finally, still in September, sales of "other" manufacturers increased by 3.3% compared to September 2007. Gilera has a total of 126 registrations, Gas Gas 94, Aprilia 69, Moto Guzzi 49, Peugeot 43, Buell 41, Beta 33 , Sherco 32, Scorpa 28, HM 19, Sym and Benelli 16, MV Agusta 13, Kymco 11 and Moto Morini 10. As for Voxan, he registered two Black Classic.

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