Market reports – Motorcycle sales decline in November – Motorcycle sales decline

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Motorcycle sales decline in November

Market reports - Motorcycle sales decline in November - Motorcycle sales decline

The motorcycle market had a difficult November with a fall of -27.6%, due to several factors, including the inevitable crisis. The main manufacturers are not worried, however. Figures, interviews and analyzes…

Motorcycle sales decline

At the end of its 11th month, 2008 promises to be another good vintage for the motorcycle market since the 2007 record should be equaled: target 238,966 registrations (read our), or 10,900 units to sell. next december…

A score that still seems perfectly achievable, even if for the past few months the French market has been losing ground. As proof, the fall in October (read) was accentuated in November: sales of motorized two-wheelers over 50 cc – "motorcycles", therefore – plummeted by 27.6% compared to november 2007 !

The statisticians will have noticed that the month of November 2008 had two working days less than November 2007. And we note the same difference in number of "days of opening of concessions": 20 in 2008 against 22 in 2007, that is to say a significant difference of 10%! Enough to moderate the gravity of the situation, but which is not enough to explain everything…

In the 125s, this fall is exactly -26.3% and affects all manufacturers, with the exception of Jonway – whose scooters continue to fill supermarket shelves -, Kymco and Suzuki. We note the start of Piaggio and his Liberty which stings – briefly – the leadership at Xmax !

Side large-displacement, the bowl amounts to -28.9% and the main victims are the Japanese brands … Triumph and BMW are not spared, unlike Harley-Davidson and KTM whose niches seem less exposed … But exposed to what, exactly? Fortunately, Site is here to see more clearly !

The crisis, yes but…

"We had been more or less spared until September by the crisis", observes for Site Alexandre Kowalski, communications director at Yamaha Motor France."But now, like many other sectors, this one affects the world of two-wheelers with a very marked slowdown of the entire 125 cc market and more than 125 cc in November.".

At Suzuki, "the cause of this drop for our brand (-31.7%) is the same as for the entire market: the current economic climate was right (for this end of the year) for the excellent performance of the motorcycle market French who until mid-October had withstood the prevailing gloom particularly well", confirms Pierre-Laurent Feriti, communication manager at Suzuki France..

A specialist in scooters, Piaggio also attests to this interpretation by specifying that "the scooter market accuses the blow of alarmist communication on the economic crisis, systematically taken up by all the media !", observes Jean-Philippe Dauviau, marketing director of Piaggio France, while noting that"our customers are predominantly urban and may also be in difficult situations".

But the manager of the Italian brand in France refuses any pessimism: "in this context, it is normal that some consumers postpone their purchases for better days"."I think we must not give in to the sinistrosis", continues Jean-Philippe Dauviau before skillfully underlining that"our market remains focused on products that provide mobility, time savings and economy compared to the car"…

"The end of the year is traditionally based on months of low volumes. Despite a negative November, the year-to-date remains positive. Let’s wait until early 2009 to understand if the trend is confirmed", concludes the wise manager of Piaggio ….

For Patrick Marchal, Sales and Marketing Director at Kawasaki France, in addition to the two "missing" working days, other factors limit the impact of the November statistics: at the end of 2007, for example, a significant number of registrations had taken place. of "Euro 2" motorcycles…

"Considering these two points, we can estimate that the number of registrations in November 2007 "without Euro 2" should have been around 6,700 (instead of 7 445, Editor’s note) and that that of a month of November 2008 with 21 working days could have reached 5,800", calculates the head of the Greens questioned by Site:"remains a corrected fall of 15% in November, equivalent to that of the auto"(-14.4%, Editor’s note), continues Patrick Marchal.

"The reasons are various and obviously directly linked to the prevailing concern affecting the French economy. May be added to this the difficult weather in the south (for once!) And elsewhere, on a Monday November 10 when France was at the weekend as well as a probable restriction at the level of banks of consumer credit agreements.", analyzes the specialist."In this area, November is a bad year for the entire economy and motorcycles have not escaped it.", notes the French Ninja who, in the preamble to our interview, nevertheless wanted to remind"that a market or a performance must appreciate on a trend and not over a single month". See you in early January for the annual review !

Naturally contacted by Site, Jean-Luc Mars for Honda France is currently "very busy with the Japanese"but will share its analysis with us tomorrow … Stay tuned !

Finally, Jean-Luc Mars, Managing Director of Honda France, notes that "Obviously, the world of motorcycles resisted the crisis and the surrounding disaster until mid-October. Then, the combination of the avalanche of bad economic news, an early winter weather and the absence of a show this year caused an extremely sharp drop in dealership traffic, resulting in an irremediable underperformance in sales.".

" Regarding Honda"Says the French big boss to Site,"two factors amplified the phenomenon. On the one hand, our strict financial conditions vis-à-vis our network, lead, more than with some of our competitors, to a greater prudence of our dealers in terms of stock policy (new motorcycles or take-back of vehicles from opportunity)".

"On the other hand, our satisfactory performance in 2008 did not lead us to promote certain models from October. The sales at the end of October, the beginning of November were largely a "bargain hunter" in search of a highly discounted price.", analyzes Jean-Luc Mars.

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