Market reports – The French motorcycle market: 6 months 2004 –

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The French motorcycle market: 6 months 2004

Market reports - The French motorcycle market: 6 months 2004 -

Sales rose 5.4% over the first 6 months of the year, but this encouraging development masks a contrasting situation with an increase of 19.6% for the 125s and a drop of 2.4% for motorcycles. As for quads, they progress by … 184% !

The encouraging development of the motorcycle market over the first six months of 2004 (+ 5.4%) actually masks a contrasting situation: on the one hand, the 125 cc, driven by the scooter trend, increased by 19.6 % to reach 41,654 sales, while on the other hand the "real" motorcycles fell by 2.4% with 61,377 registrations.

A real phenomenon of this first half of the year, the registered quad sector is exploding in sales, going from 7,652 to 21,732 units, an increase over the same period last year of … 184%! With such figures, we understand the evolution of motorcycle dealership showrooms !

French market: 125 cc

As scooters tend to pull the 125 towards the top of the range, where the margins are the highest, the manufacturers pay particular attention to this category. And in this game it is Piaggio who explodes the counters, with the new X8 replacing its big brother X9 at the head of sales (3,934), the latter still remaining in 3rd place with 2,919 registrations. A success which confirms the capital importance of successful design in this category, since in total Piaggio grew by 47.1% !

However, Honda is the biggest seller in the category. Up 66.7%, the world leader is reaping the fruits of its strategy of seducing motorists, but curiously by selling motorcycles above all: the Varadero 2nd in the category with 3,309 sales, but also the CBR125R which is a hit with young people (1,837 sales).

In this euphoric atmosphere, the big loser is Yamaha, traditionally the leader in France, which finds itself in 3rd place with 7,783 registrations, down 7.4% compared to the same period last year. "Who does not move forward retreats": without new products in such a competitive context, the tuning forks brand perfectly illustrates the proverb and its subsidiary MBK does not do better…

Behind the three heavyweights of the market, it is the disappointment for Suzuki and its Burgman, another collateral victim of the X8 … Satisfaction on the other hand at Peugeot which has successfully launched its Jet Force and among the Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese who continue their regular progression even if it is not yet the announced tidal wave.

Sales 125 cc
Rank Mark Country 6 months 2004 Market share 6 months 2003 2003-2004 evolution
1 Honda Japan 10034 24.09% 6020 +66.7%
2 Piaggio Italy 9199 22.08% 6253 +47.1%
3 Yamaha Japan 7783 18.68% 8409 -7.4%
4 Suzuki Japan 2792 6.70% 3720 -24.9%
5 Peugeot France 2181 5.24% 1689 +29.1%
6 MBK France 1566 3.76% 2042 -23.3%
7 Aprilia Italy 1380 3.31% 1547 -10.8%
8 Kymco Taiwan 1206 2.90% 905 +33.3%
9 Hyosung Korea 968 2.32% 781 +23.9%
10 Daelim Korea 632 1.52% 438 +44.3%
11 Derbi Spain 551 1.32% – N / A
12 KTM Austria 428 1.03% 415 +3.1%
13 GasGas Spain 329 0.79% 313 +5.1%
14 Husqvarna Italy 266 0.64% 171 +55.6%
15 Sym Taiwan 249 0.60% – N / A
16 Scorpa France 215 0.52% – N / A
17 Zongshen China 187 0.45% – N / A
18 Beta Italy 166 0.40% 128 +29.7%
19 Cagiva Italy 125 0.30% 72 +73.6%
20 Sherco France 115 0.28% – N / A
21 Bmw Germany 57 0.14% 299 -80.9%
22 Gilera Italy 53 0.13% 150 -64.7%
23 Kawasaki Japan 27 0.06% 581 -95.4%
24 Montesa Spain 1 0.00% 1 0.0%
Other – 1144 2.75% 887 +29.0%

TOTAL

 41654 100% 34821 +19.6%

French market: more than 125 cc

On the side of the big cars, the atmosphere is no longer euphoric … In particular among the two world leaders, Honda and Yamaha, respectively down 24.3% and 14.2%. Apparently their MotoGP exploits do not inspire French buyers…

Yamaha remains the leader in France in virtually all categories of motorcycles, but the new Fazer is less dominating its rivals than the old one. The statistics for the coming months should make it possible to know whether these are simple passenger delivery times, or too much radicalization of the model. Note, however, the spectacular success of the new R1, fourth in sales with 1,564 registrations, which proves that motorcycles are still a passion impervious to the toughening of road legislation..

For Honda, the situation is much more worrying: sales of the Hornet collapsed against the Kawasaki Z750, the Hornet 900 does not take off, the PanEuropean is temporarily suspended and the CBR1000 is not available … The horizon However, it has cleared up a little over the past two months for the world No. 1, thanks to deliveries of CBF600 (read our essay). Long decried by the "die-hards", would ABS ultimately be a strong argument for some bikers? ?

Wide smile on the other hand at Kawasaki, which shows an increase of + 17.5%. Rather poorly in recent years, the Greens have reacted strongly with the Z1000 and Z750 and we can say that they have hit the nail on the head: 2,956 registrations in 6 months for the Z750, Kawasaki has never made such figures! The Z1000 remains the leader of large displacement roadsters, while the ZX10R is making a good start with 577 registrations (read our review,). With such new sales, it’s a safe bet that the best deals in multi-brand pre-owned can be found precisely at Kawasaki dealers. !

At the now cousin Suzuki, the atmosphere is also relaxed with an increase of + 5.9%. True to its motto "a decent motorcycle for a decent price", the indestructible Bandit 600 is always on the heels of a brand new Fazer … To be disgusted with new products! The good surprise comes from the DL 650 V-Strom (read our review), which immediately became the best selling trail with 1,128 registrations despite its ungrateful physique. On the other hand, we could hope for better from the SV650.

On the "non-Japanese" side, BMW continues to grow steadily (+ 9.5%), relying on its best seller, the R1150RT (1,011 registrations). Sales of R1200GS (read our review,) are not yet significant, but the Bavarian manufacturer hardly sells motorcycles below 10,000 €, its 4,129 registrations in total weigh heavily in turnover and profit margin !

Triumph (+ 25%), KTM (+ 24%) and Harley-Davidson (+ 22.1%) have had a very good semester while Ducati remains stable (+ 5.1%). On the other hand, it is a bit of panic at Aprilia (-31.9%), which would have every interest in offering an average displacement to broaden its offer (read).

Note also the great success of Buell, thanks to its successful interpretation of a sports car adapted to the current context (328 sales), the return of Voxan (187 registrations) in line with its objectives and the rebirth of Husqvarna which triples its sales , which would have put balm in the heart of the late Marcel Seurat. This performance is indeed particularly important for the Cagiva group, still under judicial administration and awaiting a decision on its future in November … Finally, with 74 sales, the Hyosung Comet 650, Korean copy of the Suzuki SV650 , has not really taken its place on the French market: not so easy to seduce bikers !

Sales over 125 cc
Rank Mark Country 6 months 2004 Market share 6 months 2003 2003-2004 evolution
1 Yamaha Japan 14275 23.26% 16629 -14.2%
2 Suzuki Japan 13776 22.44% 13014 +5.9%
3 Honda Japan 9058 14.76% 11969 -24.3%
4 Kawasaki Japan 7962 12.97% 6776 +17.5%
5 Bmw Germany 4129 6.73% 3772 +9.5%
6 KTM Austria 2082 3.39% 1679 +24.0%
7 Harley USA 2025 3.30% 1659 +22.1%
8 Ducati Italy 1885 3.07% 1793 +5.1%
9 Gas Gas Spain 1211 1.97% 1298 -6.7%
10 Triumph UK 1165 1.90% 932 +25.0%
11 Piaggio Italy 799 1.30% 667 +19.8%
12 Aprilia Italy 622 1.01% 914 -31.9%
13 Guzzi Italy 461 0.75% 415 +11.1%
14 Buell USA 328 0.53% 152 +115.8%
15 Husqvarna Italy 293 0.48% 94 +211.7%
16 Voxan France 187 0.30% 48 +289.6%
17 Gilera Italy 167 0.27% 19 +778.9%
18 Beta Italy 156 0.25% 100 +56.0%
19 Scorpa France 121 0.20% 116 +4.3%
20 Sherco France 87 0.14% N / A N / A
21 Hyosung Korea 74 0.12% 12 +516.7%
22 Cagiva Italy 64 0.10% 38 +68.4%
23 Kymco Taiwan 50 0.08% 37 +35.1%
24 MBK France 30 0.05% 59 -49.2%
25 Peugeot France 13 0.02% 39 -66.7%
26 Montesa Spain 7 0.01% 96 -92.7%
Other – 350 0.57% 580 -39.7%
TOTAL 61377 100% 62907 -2.4%

While waiting to know if these trends will be confirmed in the second half of the year, the poor weather this early summer is not very favorable for the market…

Classification by groups
Group Country 6 months 2004 Market share 6 months 2003 2003-2004 evolution
1 Suzuki-Kawasaki Japan 24557 23.8% 24091 +1.9%
2 Yamaha-MBK Japan 23624 22.9% 27139 -13.0%
3 Honda-HM Japan 19092 18.5% 17989 +6.1%
4 Piaggio-Gilera-Derbi Italy 10769 10.5% 7089 +51.9%
5 Bmw Germany 4186 4.1% 4071 +2.8%
6 KTM Austria 2510 2.4% 2094 +19.9%
7 Aprilia-Moto Guzzi Italy 2463 2.4% 2876 -14.4%
8 Harley Davidson-Buell USA 2353 2.3% 1811 +29.9%
9 Peugeot France 2194 2.1% 1728 +27.0%
10 Ducati Italy 1885 1.8% 1793 +5.1%
11 Triumph UK 1165 1.1% 932 +25.0%
12 Cagiva-MV-Husqvarna Italy 748 0.7% 375 +99.5%
Other – 7485 7.3% 5740 +30.4%
TOTAL 103031 100% 97728 +5.4%

Benoît LACOSTE

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