Market reports – Motorcycle market in March 2005: sudden slowdown –

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Motorcycle market in March 2005: sudden slowdown

Market reports - Motorcycle market in March 2005: sudden slowdown -

Sales slowed sharply in March with a drop of -16.7% for the 125s and -10.4% for the large-displacement cars, at the same time erasing the good performances of the first two months of the year ….

While the 2005 novelties arrived in dealerships, sales slowed down sharply in March with a drop of -16.7% for the 125s and -10.4% for the large-displacement models, at the same time erasing the good performances of the first two. months of the year.

Hopefully this is only a temporary slowdown due to bad weather or the expectation of other novelties like the Kawasaki Z 750S, Honda Hornet or ABS on the Bandit 650, and not the lasting consequence of the climate anti-motorcycle maintained by the public authorities lately.

Another pessimistic note, sales of approved quads are down 9.3%, confirming the trend of the previous two months.

125 cc: Yamaha floats in a sharply declining market

Sales of 125 cc were the hardest hit in March. Once is not customary, the two leaders Honda and Piaggio mark time. With the widest range in this category, the No. 1 worldwide limits the damage by doing slightly better than the market at -14.2%.

It is less brilliant for Piaggio which posted a decrease of -28.7%, although the X8 remains in the lead with 432 registrations. It is however closely followed by the veteran of the category, the Yamaha YP125 Majesty.

In this difficult context, Yamaha held up the best with a drop of only 4.7%. Its subsidiary MBK is even growing by 15.9% and ahead of Peugeot, still gloomy (-20.3%). Likewise, Kymco and KTM manage to do well with respectively + 12.1% and + 4.3%.

Over the first three months of 2005, 125 registrations were down 9.3%, a drop that will be difficult to fill over the following nine months. A worrying prospect for a market that has been growing steadily for three years.

Big engines: the success of the new models is not enough to save a gloomy month

In this difficult context, the Kawasaki Z 750 and Yamaha FZ6 Fazer maintained their leadership with respectively 664 and 606 registrations. It’s been a tough month at Suzuki: the old Bandit 600 retrogrades to 7th place (190 registrations) while the new Bandit 650, available only in Naked version, occupies 4th position with 354 registrations.

It is very likely that many customers expect the streamlined version and especially the ABS option. Indeed, this equipment is starting to convince bikers, as evidenced by the progress of the Honda CBF 600, now 5th on the sales charts, or the presence in the top 10 of the BMW R 1200RT and Yamaha FJR 1300.

But the real event of the month of March is the successful launch of the Yamaha MT-01 (soon to be tested in Moto-Net), which ranks 3rd best seller with 355 registrations! The demand for this kind of atypical motorcycle really exists, and if the trend is confirmed the MT-01 could well be the phenomenon of the year.

In the manufacturers’ ranking, Yamaha is now well ahead of Suzuki even if the two brands are doing less well than the market with -15.4% and -27.1%. Among the Japanese, Honda resisted the best and consolidated its 3rd place with a drop of only -5.6%.

More impressive, BMW, Harley-Davidson and Triumph post robust growth with respectively + 20.6%, + 47.3% and even + 77.5% for the British brand !

The success of these three brands, like that of the Yamaha MT-01, confirms that in the high end the trend is now for motorcycles that embody a lifestyle rather than pure performance..

Finally, let us note over the whole of the first quarter, the market is practically stable.

Benoît LACOSTE

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