Market reports – Two-wheelers await summer … –

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Two-wheelers wait for summer…

Market reports - Two-wheelers await summer ... -

Last May, the motorcycle market recorded a 3.5% drop in sales compared to May 2007. In question: the large cubes which recorded a decline of 7.3% while the 125 did not improve only very slightly their score (+ 0.8%). Balance sheet.

Compared to May 2007, the concessions remained open in May 2008 for the same number of days (21), but the weather was not the most lenient: statistically the wettest month of the year in France, May 2008 was particularly wet (ask the French SBK pilots, read)!) and therefore not very suitable for motorcycle trips…

The motorized two-wheeler market
on the rise in Europe

At the annual general meeting of the Association of European Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), which was held in early May in Spain, KTM President Austria, Stefan Pierer (read), was delighted that the The motorized two-wheeler market in Europe exceeded 2.5 million units in 2007, after having passed the 2 million mark in 2006. "This remarkable increase is mainly due to better statistical monitoring of imports of two-wheelers from outside Europe."said Mr. Pierer as president of ACEM.

"After ten years of decline, the 50cc segment is now on the rise", also stressed Mr. Pierer, adding that"registrations of more than 50cc recorded a positive balance for the fifth consecutive year with 1.5 million units, or almost 4% increase".

Despite this, the 125s maintained their 2007 pace by accumulating 12,608 registrations in May 2008, ie 100 more than in May 2007. Japanese manufacturers Yamaha and Honda are doing well, while Europeans Piaggio and Peugeot continue. to suffer…

We are now used to it: the Yamaha Xmax is at the top of sales … So just to keep the attention on it, the tuning forks firm has a surprise in store this month…

With 12,836 sales, the "over 125" narrowly supplanted their younger siblings and recorded a disappointing decline of -7.3% compared to the 13,849 registrations of May 2007. Overall, the trend remains largely positive (+5.4 %) and the late release of important novelties should confirm this this summer !

Market 125: 12,608 units (+ 0.8%)

When the number one sees its 125 registrations climb by 7.7% while the whole market is stagnant, this results in a monthly market share of 23.49%! An all the more impressive performance from Yamaha given the low revs of its best seller.

With 1165 registration cards, the Xmax therefore remains the undisputed king of the 125 in France. But compared to its 1,322 sales in May 2007, its score is relatively unremarkable. However the Majesty with its 315 sales (against 509 last year) is not more in verve and the YBR achieved in 2008 the same number of immats as in 2007 (respectively 413 and 425).

The secret of the impressive PDM held by Yam ‘is hidden in one of its 2008 novelties: the YZF-R125! (read our). The new little sports car has entered the dealerships more than noticed: after the first 136 sales in April, no less than 618 registrations were recorded for the month of May alone. !

Thus, the youngest of the famous "R series" unceremoniously pushes the Honda CBR out of the monthly top 15 and even doubles it in the annual ranking! The battle between these two sports of 15 horses promises…

Honda will however be able to argue that the best selling 125 motorcycles goes for the umpteenth time to its Varadero (read our), which has 648 registrations. The world number one also obtains a satisfactory + 18.3% … Behind which actually hides a heavy fall in 2007, due to the absence of the Pantheon and its replacement, the S-Wing !

Thus, Honda still has only 13.32% of French PDM … But it is better than Piaggio, which finds itself in 3rd position in the manufacturer’s ranking with 12.78% of PDM: the Italian and its 2007 novelties still fail to straighten the bar…

Admittedly, last month, the XEvo (578 immats) got even closer to second place – in terms of sales of 125 scooters – contested by the Suzuki Burgman (664) and the Peugeot Satelis (640). But the X7 struggles to make it into the top 15 (188 immats) and the MP3 loses many places: it is 13th with 236 sales while it was 8th with 342 sales last year..

Suddenly, Piaggio shows a decline in its sales of 23.9% compared to May 2007: it is the biggest fall of the month. On the side, Suzuki’s -1.8% drop would go almost unnoticed if the Japanese did not go below the 7% mark for PDM (6.90% exactly).

Its Burgman nevertheless occupies second place in the ranking of sales of 125 in France with 664 registrations, slightly more than last year (636). But his VanVan, which was close to 200 units last year (197), only sold 146 units this year. The competition of the Dax of Sky Team would it have something? ?

We observe on this occasion that if the Chinese manufacturer Sky Team was stung by his compatriot Jonway, his Dax is still in 12th place in the monthly top 15 and now occupies the same 12th place in the annual top 15 , ahead of the R125 and CBR sports cars !

On the French side, Peugeot Motocycles is finally limiting the drop in sales to 11% in May. It should be remembered that last year, the Satelis entered a phase of consolidation of its sales, the scooter then blowing its first candle.

With 702 registrations, Peugeot ceded ground to Suzuki and its 4th place. The Sochaux Lion totals 5.67% of the PDM at the end of the first five months, against 6.56 for Suz ‘… and 4.76% for MBK !

Last month, however, the second Frenchman crossed the 5% mark of PDM by selling 635 vehicles, of which the Skycruiser – twin of the Xmax Yamaha – accounts for half. But again, the Sym GTS registers more registrations (361 against 315).

The Taiwanese manufacturer is therefore still approaching the 6th place occupied by MBK: cumulatively, Sym has 1,913 immates against 2,116 for the French. Behind, Kymco (1464) and Daelim (1289) are under threat from Jonway (1039) … Last month, the Chinese again registered – for supermarkets – 340 scooters against 369 for the Taiwanese and 335 for the Korean.

For the third consecutive month, the "other" manufacturers posted a negative trend in their sales: -2.9%. In order, we found in May 2008 Sky Team (299 registrations), Aprilia (235), Keeway (164), Hyosung (142), Yiying (135), Gilera (120), Jinlun (97), Baotian (92), Derbi (92), Jmstar (84), Revatto (69), CF Moto (60), KTM (59), Fym (46), Hanglong (38) and Husqvarna (37).

Market over 125: 12,836 units (-7.3%)

In large displacement too, Yamaha occupies the leading position with a total of 2665 registrations, almost 100 more than Suzuki (2569). And despite the 0.4% decline in sales compared to May 2007, the French PDM of Yam ‘fell from 19.32% last year to 20.76%.

As in April, we must underline the feat of the "new" Tmax, which retains the 2nd place in the ranking of best sales by model: with 764 units sold, the maxi scoot leaves far behind the Fazer, yet 3rd in the ranking (593 immates ) !

Suzuki must therefore be satisfied with the 2nd place this month (20.01% of EBITDA and -12.2% for its sales compared to May 2007), 2nd place that the manufacturer of Hamamatsu also occupies in the aggregate of the five first months with 10,633 registrations against 10,858 for Yamaha.

In the top 15 of the best sales of the month, we find the Bandit 650 (468) ahead of the GSR (366) and we welcome the SV650 (194). The Suzuki V-twin would also gain places if Suz ‘added – as Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda do – the Naked and Faired versions of its roadster, i.e. 353 SV650 (N and S).

With the same concern for precision, Suzuki distinguishes the four versions of the Bandit 1250: S and Naked, with or without ABS! Cumulated, sales of the "Twelve and a half" thus reach 224 registrations, ie 9th place in the top15…

Still at the top of the "over 125" sales, the Kawasaki Z750 was bought by 868 bikers last month. The ER-6 has convinced 473 customers and is placed in 4th place in sales by model behind the Z and the two Yamaha. As for the Z1000, it is in 8th position and loses a battle against the FZ1: 226 and 256 immats respectively.

The scores of the three Kawa roadsters are down compared to last year and that of their manufacturer follows relentlessly: -17.6% in May. The Greens are consoled, however, for this predictable drop – they launched their two new Zs around the same time last year – by retaining 3rd place in the monthly manufacturers’ ranking..

Still 3rd in the total of the first five months, Honda (15.84% of EBITDA) is therefore under constant pressure from Kawasaki (15.24%). The sales trend of the world number one continues to alternate "positive" and "negative" in France: -12.6% in May 2008.

Among its 1759 registrations last month, only 434 went to the Hornet (60 less than in May 2007) while at the bottom of the top 15, its Transalp (178 in May and 815 in five months) is competing for 14th place with the Yamaha R6 (175 and 806!) – we are talking about sales, no stopwatch, of course! Finally, the Honda CBF 600 and 1000 are grouped together in 10th and 11th place in the monthly ranking with 207 and 205 registrations respectively..

BMW shows, like the four Japanese, an evolution of its sales negative: -4.7% compared to May 2007. First responsible, its R1200RT recorded 57 orders less than last year in the same month. It still takes advantage of the absence of the big Bandit to remain the best seller in more than 1000cc, despite its high price..

Behind, Harley-Davidson signs a satisfactory month of May: with + 6.3% and 672 motorcycles sold, the American is not waiting for the arrival of his XR1200 to improve his scores! With 580 registrations, the pace of its cousin Triumph continues to decrease (+ 17.9%), but the British manufacturer is still in 6th place at the end of the first five months: 4.87% of PDM against 4.68% for the american.

Eighth last month, Ducati signs an increase in sales of 11.1%, obtained in particular thanks to the release of its new Monster: the 696. After the 23 first sales in April, 111 additional were made in May , allowing the Bologna firm to exceed 3% of French PDM (3.19%).

Behind, KTM saw its sales decrease by 12.9%, going from 410 in May 2007 to 357 in May 2008. Much more timid than that of the small Yam R125, the RC8 (read our) continues its launch in France with 18 sales last month: it’s better than the Buell 1125R and its 8 units (read our), but still very far from the 65 Ducati 1098 (including four 1098 R).

For the first time, Gilera has reached the table of the top 10 manufacturers with 159 scooters sold, an anecdotal explosion of 367.6% of its sales compared to May 2007. Thus, the GP800 and its 113 registrations confirm with the Tmax the bikers’ appeal for maxi scooters !

Finally, last month, sales of "other" manufacturers fell by 17.1%, from 995 vehicles in May 2007 to 825 in May 2008. Piaggio has registered 155 motorcycles "over 125cc", Aprilia 103, Peugeot 78, Moto Guzzi 67, Gas Gas 61, Buell 56, Beta 36, ​​Scorpa 33, Husqvarna 28, Sherco 26, HM 24, MV Agusta 23, Sym and Derbi 18 and Kymco 15. Finally, Voxan has 3 registrations: a Black Magic , a Charade and a Cafe Racer.

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