Market reports – Global motorcycle market report –

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Overall assessment of the motorcycle market

Market reports - Global motorcycle market report -

The trends observed in the first half of the year are confirmed: the overall market is up 4.3% compared to 2003, but this assessment masks a strong disparity between the 125 market and that of large engines. Explanations.

The main trends observed in the first half of 2004 (read) were confirmed at the end of the year: the market grew 4.3% compared to 2003 to 183,811 units. But this overall assessment masks a strong disparity between the 125 market and that of large engines..

Sales growth of 125 cc slowed down a bit in the second half of the year, finally reaching a respectable 13.3%, or 79,238 units sold. Conversely, large-engine sales slowed their fall in the second half of the year, with the market finally contracting only 1.5% with 104,573 units sold..

The phenomenon of approved quads is still progressing at a tremendous pace with 40,885 machines sold in 2004, an increase of … 96.8%! Quad sales now account for more than half of 125 sales !

125 cc: the Honda offensive

The 125 cc market continues to grow, relying on the one hand on a huge pool of potential customers (all motorists) and on the other hand on the growing congestion of large cities. This development has caused a strong evolution of buyers of 125 cc.

Formerly made up mainly of young first-timers – the golden era of the Yamaha DT and TDR – today it is mostly adult motorists looking for an alternative means of transport to avoid traffic jams. They have a large budget and want a rewarding vehicle, not an oil tanker.

In 2004 there was a certain maturity of buyers who abandoned the pseudo-customs 125, flashy and impractical, for more economical and more functional machines: Piaggio X8, Honda Lead. More surprisingly, the distribution between motorcycles and scooters remained practically constant between 2003 and 2004. In particular thanks to a renewed offer of 125 cc motorcycles: Honda CBR 125R, Honda XR 125.

As for manufacturers, it is striking to note that two brands, Honda and Piaggio, monopolize practically all the growth of the market. With its new X8, Piaggio offers a model that is almost as rewarding as the X9 and significantly less expensive. With a very strong scooter image and a network entirely dedicated to this type of machine, Piaggio continues to dominate the high-end scooter market to such an extent that the Japanese seem almost resigned to this state of affairs (read in particular our interviews with the managers of and of ).

The world leader has sought its growth a little against the trend of the scooter by renewing its 125 motorcycle offer for young people: the Honda CBR 125R and XR 125 are offered at particularly attractive prices. And it works, since with an increase of 62.2% Honda is now the market leader !

The big loser in 2004 was Yamaha … The traditional leader of the French market poorly planned the arrival of Euro2 anti-pollution standards at the end of 2003 and had to stop the distribution of DTR and TDR without any replacement offer until in September 2004 (). Since then, the DTR Euro 2 has arrived and early 2005 will follow the XT125 and YB125. But if the situation improved at the end of the year, Yamaha is paying dearly for its mistake and its market share goes from 21.4% in 2003 to 18.1% in 2004.

Behind these three giants who alone represent two-thirds of the market, the results are not famous: Suzuki, MBK and Aprilia are losing a lot of ground, penalized by a too small range and network. As for Peugeot, it barely maintains its sales despite the new Elystar and JetForce. Paradoxically, the French manufacturer achieved its best sale with its old Elyseo sold off, which is symptomatic of an essentially utility market: customers want value for their money! A trend confirmed by the progress of the Koreans Daelim and Hyosung and the Taiwanese Kymco and Sym, even if we are far from the announced Asian wave. Customers are still wary of these new brands, especially when it comes to reliability and network. Not to mention that Chinese machines are still distributed too widely to have a real impact on the French market..

Sales of 125 cc should continue to grow in 2005. And after several years of continuous growth, it will be interesting to observe if all these new motorcycle buyers will one day evolve towards the A license and the big engines … Which could upset the situation in this market and prove Honda right, which has made the bet that Honda is making ().

Big cars: Suzuki takes the lead !

The fundamentals of the large-engine market are totally different from those of the 125 cc: the pool of potential customers is limited to holders of the A license, but customers are heavily involved. With the cost of getting to a motorcycle more and more high (equipment, insurance), few young people manage to take the plunge and the average age of bikers therefore continues to increase.

The market is therefore mature but very sensitive to economic conditions, because the motorcycle is for many a second vehicle that we can possibly do without. In an unfavorable economic context, the damage was finally limited with a drop in registrations of only 1.5%. But 2004 will not go down in history as a great year for motorcycling in France. !

Athletes are doing well

Despite increased repression on the roads, habits are not changing as much as one might think: the distribution of sales by type of motorcycle is practically stable, proving that the breakthrough of large scooters or supermotards is more a myth than a reality. At the heart of the market, mid-displacement roadsters still monopolize the top 5 sales. Beyond that, it is the machines with a strong character and a strong image that make us crack. Thus, almost all European brands are making strong progress while the big sports cars, the Yamaha R1 in particular, are doing very well in the end..

Suzuki picks up the timpani

On the constructors’ side, it was Suzuki who picked up the cup and beat Yamaha to the wire, with 23,893 and 23,564 registrations respectively. Because behind the resounding success of the YZF R1 and the FZ6 and Fazer, the rest of the manufacturer’s range with 3 tuning forks is stalling: FZS 1000 Fazer overtaken by the Kawasaki Z1000, TDM 900 eclipsed by the Suzuki DL 650 V Strom .. Worse: the disappearance of the Diversion because of the Euro2 emission standard deprived Yamaha of an entry level.

Suzuki, with its Bandit priced more aggressively than ever, was all it took to win over new bikers. The accusations of price breaker are coming from all sides, but the 3rd largest manufacturer in the world clearly assumes its position ().

Honda CBF 600 misses entry

Another victim of this Bandit who never seems to get old, the Honda CBF 600 misses its entry. Modern, equipped with ABS but positioned a little expensive, it did not really succeed in its arrival on the French market. However, it does better than the sales chart suggests, because Honda does not pool the sales of its bare and faired models as Suzuki and Yamaha do..

With the world’s No. 1 bestseller, the Hornet, being eaten up by the Kawasaki Z750, Honda suffered a lot in 2004 and sales fell by 21.4%! Perhaps a setback to its communication policy geared primarily towards neo-bikers and motorists (), but we are still waiting for a really exciting novelty from the Japanese giant.

Kawasaki group shot

Happy New Year also for Kawasaki which makes a group shot at the first places of sales with its Z roadsters. For 2005, Kawasaki plans to dislodge the Fazer from its first place with its Z750 / Z750S couple ().

If the results are mixed for the four Japanese, it is rather euphoria on the side of the Europeans and Americans. Motorcycles with character sell well, even if they are a little more expensive: good news that shows that motorcycles remain a passion with their irrationality !

Rollers Vs Passionate…

In fact, the market seems to be cut in two: on the one hand, the "rider" bikers who are looking for a versatile and practical motorcycle at a reasonable cost, and on the other hand enthusiasts willing to pay the price to own an exceptional machine..

BMW is thus beating all its records with 7,210 registrations (), thanks in particular to the success of the R 1200 GS, which totals 1,221 sales in just 6 months: exceptional for a motorcycle at nearly 14,000 euros !

Harley-Davidson and Triumph are also showing good progress as KTM ramps up and demonstrates the merits of its policy of diversification into road motorcycles.

Finally, only Ducati is skating with a Multistrada which in 2004 did not confirm its good start to 2003. There remains the worrying case of Aprilia and Moto Guzzi, which obviously suffered from the climate of uncertainty linked to the soap opera of the takeover by Piaggio (read). Obviously, customer confidence is shaken because if the first half had been bad, the results of the second are even worse. The figures for December are even downright worrying with 6 sales for Guzzi and 19 for Aprilia … Let’s hope that the horizon will clear up in 2005 !

Finally on the French side, satisfaction for Voxan which continues its recovery with still modest figures but in line with its forecasts. Likewise, we note the great success of the French brand Sherco which registered 228 enduro machines in 2004.

2004 France sales: 125 cc market
– Mark Country 12 months 2004 Market share 12 months 2003 2003/2004 evolution
1 Honda Japan 19540 24.66% 12045 62.2%
2 Piaggio Italy 17937 22.64% 14080 27.4%
3 Yamaha Japan 14318 18.07% 14952 -4.2%
4 Suzuki Japan 5026 6.34% 6422 -21.7%
5 Peugeot France 3768 4.76% 3804 -0.9%
6 MBK France 3435 4.34% 4003 -14.2%
7 Aprilia Italy 2631 3.32% 3634 -27.6%
8 Kymco Taiwan 2457 3.10% 2223 10.5%
9 Hyosung Korea S 1711 2.16% 1619 5.7%
10 Daelim Korea S 984 1.24% 765 28.6%
11 Derbi Spain 855 1.08% – N / A
12 KTM Austria 847 1.07% 842 0.6%
13 Sym Taiwan 604 0.76% – N / A
14 Gas Gas Spain 593 0.75% 606 -2.1%
15 Husqvarna Italy 486 0.61% 355 36.9%
16 Scorpa France 422 0.53% – N / A
17 Zongshen China 400 0.50% – N / A
18 Renault France 349 0.44% 217 60.8%
19 Cagiva Italy 245 0.31% 205 19.5%
20 Jincheng China 242 0.31% – N / A
21 Beta Italy 234 0.30% 227 3.1%
22 MZ Germany 228 0.29% 230 -0.9%
23 Chunlan China 206 0.26% – N / A
24 Sherco France 188 0.24% – N / A
25 Malaguti Italy 146 0.18% 143 2.1%
– Other – 1386 1.75% 3577 N / A
– TOTAL – 79238 100% 69949 13.3%
Sales France 2004: large-engine market
– Mark Country 12 months 2004 Market share 12 months 2003 2003-2004 evolution
1 Suzuki Japan 23893 22.85% 21468 11.3%
2 Yamaha Japan 23564 22.53% 27324 -13.8%
3 Honda Japan 14875 14.22% 18917 -21.4%
4 Kawasaki Japan 12672 12.12% 11514 10.1%
5 Bmw Germany 7210 6.89% 6290 14.6%
6 KTM Austria 3786 3.62% 2999 26.2%
7 Harley-davidson USA 3718 3.56% 3229 15.1%
8 Ducati Italy 3117 2.98% 3161 -1.4%
9 GasGas Spain 2245 2.15% 2327 -3.5%
10 Triumph UK 1954 1.87% 1682 16.2%
11 Piaggio Italy 1544 1.48% 1509 2.3%
12 Aprilia Italy 935 0.89% 1591 -41.2%
13 Honda Montesa Spain 868 0.83% 394 120.3%
14 Moto Guzzi Italy 642 0.61% 883 -27.3%
15 Buell USA 584 0.56% 366 59.6%
16 Husqvarna Italy 448 0.43% 297 50.8%
17 Beta Italy 308 0.29% 240 28.3%
18 Voxan France 299 0.29% 126 137.3%
19 Gilera Italy 283 0.27% 87 225.3%
20 Sherco France 228 0.22% – N / A
21 MV Agusta Italy 199 0.19% 51 290.2%
22 Scorpa France 188 0.18% 204 -7.8%
23 Hyosung Korea S 124 0.12% 20 520.0%
24 Kymco Taiwan 102 0.10% 101 1.0%
25 Benelli Italy 90 0.09% 21 328.6%
– Other – 697 0.67% 1399 -50.2%
– TOTAL – 104573 100% 106200 -1.5%
Sales France 2004: classification by groups
– Group Country 12 months 2004 Market share 12 months 2003 2003-2004 evolution
– Suzuki-Kawasaki Japan 41636 22.7% 39449 5.5%
1 Yamaha MBK Japan 41367 22.5% 46329 -10.7%
2 Honda HM Japan 35395 19.3% 31468 12.5%
3 Piaggio * Italy 24930 13.6% 21887 13.9%
4 Bmw Germany 7210 3.9% 6290 14.6%
5 KTM Austria 4565 2.5% 4071 12.1%
6 Harley-davidson USA 4370 2.4% 3365 29.9%
8 Peugeot France 3796 2.1% 3832 -0.9%
9 Ducati Italy 3117 1.7% 3161 -1.4%
10 Triumph UK 1954 1.1% 1682 16.2%
11 MV Agusta ** Italy 1456 0.8% 986 47.7%
12 Other – 14015 7.6% 13629 N / A
– TOTAL – 183811 – 176149 4.3%
– * Piaggio, Gilera, Derbi, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi
– ** MV Agusta, Cagiva, Husqvarna
Sales France 2004: Top 20 of the 125 cc
– Model 12 months 2004 Market share 12 months 2003 Variation
1 Piaggio X8 7970 10.1% – –
2 Honda XL125V Varadero 5829 7.4% 4743 22.9%
3 Yamaha YP125 Majesty 5739 7.2% 3891 47.5%
4 Piaggio X9 5269 6.6% 6413 -17.8%
5 Honda CBR125R 3868 4.9% – –
6 Yamaha TW125 3599 4.5% 3097 16.2%
7 Suzuki AN125 Burgman 2592 3.3% 2570 0.9%
8 Honda pantheon 2572 3.2% 1991 29.2%
9 MBK Skyliner 125 2309 2.9% 2299 0.4%
10 Yamaha DT125R 2303 2.9% 2186 5.4%
11 Honda Lead 100 2116 2.7% 1244 70.1%
12 Suzuki RV125 Van Van 1727 2.2% 1943 -11.1%
13 Yamaha XC125F 1721 2.2% 1328 29.6%
14 Piaggio Grand Tour 1681 2.1% 1488 13.0%
15 Honda XR125L 1652 2.1% – –
16 Kymco Dink 125 1536 1.9% 1034 48.5%
17 Honda VT125C 1218 1.5% 1010 20.6%
18 Peugeot Elyseo 125 1189 1.5% – –
19 Peugeot Elystar 125 1146 1.4% 979 17.1%
20 MBK Flame 125 935 1.2% – –
– Other models 56971 71.9% – –
– Total market 2004 79238 100.0% – –
2004 France sales: Top 20 big cars
Model 12 months 2004 Market share 12 months 2003 Variation
1 Yamaha FZ6 and Fazer 7658 7.3% 7276 5.3%
2 Suzuki GSF600 Bandit N and S 6736 6.4% 5092 32.3%
3 Kawasaki Z 750 4933 4.7% – –
4 Suzuki SV 650 S and N 3545 3.4% 3084 14.9%
5 Honda CB 600F Hornet 2614 2.5% 2522 3.6%
6 Yamaha YZF R1 2245 2.1% 1273 76.4%
7 Kawasaki Z1000 1949 1.9% 2768 -29.6%
8 Yamaha XP500 T-Max 1836 1.8% – –
9 Suzuki DL 650 V Strom 1720 1.6% – –
10 BMW R 1150RT 1696 1.6% 1663 2.0%
11 Yamaha XJR 1300 1593 1.5% 1821 -12.5%
12 Suzuki GSXR 1000 1518 1.5% 1316 15.3%
13 KTM 450 EXC 1363 1.3% 905 50.6%
14 Yamaha FJR 1300 1362 1.3% 1529 -10.9%
15 Honda CBF 600S 1350 1.3% – –
16 Kawasaki ER5 1281 1.2% 1274 0.5%
17 Yamaha FZS 1000 fazer 1279 1.2% 2087 -38.7%
18 Suzuki GSF 1200S Bandit 1221 1.2% 1507 -19.0%
19 BMW R 1200GS 1036 1.0% – –
20 Yamaha TDM 900 931 0.9% 1414 -34.2%
Other models 47866 60.4% – –
Total market 2004 104573 100.0% – –

Benoît LACOSTE

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