Business – A lively start to 2014 for motorcycles in France – Manufacturers are adapting, the market is picking up again

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A lively start to 2014 for motorcycles in France

Business - A lively start to 2014 for motorcycles in France - Manufacturers are adapting, the market is taking off

The International Automobile and Motorcycle Union Chamber (CSIAM) brought together the main players in motorized 2 and 3-wheelers to comment on the start of 2014, marked by a market recovery of + 10.1%… and by an advertising campaign !

Manufacturers are adapting, the market is picking up again

On the niche of "medium-displacement" (500 to 750 cc) indeed, "many new products are just starting to be delivered", analysis Éric de Seynes,"while other great novelties of 850, 1000 or 1200 cc arrived at the beginning of the year"… even before !

According to the boss of the Blues, "this allows us to illustrate how receptive customers are to new products. For years, sales of new vehicles represented 60 to 65% of the motorcycle market in France. The trend had completely reversed for three years, but it is rebalancing … slowly".

"The adaptation of brands to market changes is striking", continues Eric de Seynes:"many have stopped playing smart, returned to the fundamentals … hence the renewed interest of bikers for very consistent offers".

Jean-Luc Mars, director of Triumph France, wishes to salute the fundamental work accomplished by all the manufacturers: "the 2008-2010 crisis took everyone by surprise … Major economists even today apologize for not having anticipated it !"

"Motorcycle and scooter manufacturers were therefore forced to establish strategies very different from those programmed in 2008", continues Mister Mars,"and to develop between 2010 and 2013 products in line with our new environment".

"Today, favorable macroeconomic momentum – globally – and the reorientation of product plans is translating into a recovery"… Recovery whose vigor in France is largely due to the weather, insists the boss Triumph !

"Our internal forecasts show a 2014 market (more than 500 cc) increasing between 0 and + 3% "", believes Jean-Luc Mars,"because the French economic climate remains gloomy and the sun of the first months gave us a head start".

Gerard Staedelin, Managing Director of Harley-Davidson, shares this opinion and shows himself "just as careful, especially with regard to "leisure" motorcycles like ours because people had fun from February, March or April … we must see what the return has in store for us".

"The second half will be less favorable because the end of 2013 had already been positive", warns the president of the CSIAM Eric de Seynes,"and the market will certainly not be able to maintain its + 10 or + 12% all year round".

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