Motorcycle Overview September 2019

According to sentiment around the dealerships customers are more reluctant to commit to larger purchases and yet again the big talking point is because of Brexit and other political concerns. In a sales environment there are always going to be reasons sought out for any negatives in performance, but this time it is not a transient like the old favourite bad weather one, this has been over a period more measured in years than months and will increase as the deadline approaches. The talk in financial circles of a slowdown in the global economy is now rearing its ugly head and will not help the situation. The car industry is feeling the pinch in July with total registrations down 4.1% and Year-To-Date a negative 3.5%. So currently things are not that bad.

New Market

The latest month new registrations reported by the MCIA saw an encouraging 4.3% growth in July after the 11% setback in June. 9,916 machines were registered when last year the number was 410 less and the Y-T-D continued to show a gain compared to 2018. 67,290 in 2018 grew by 3.1% to 69,381 this year.

Digging deeper into the results see the Moped numbers continuing the increase seen for the year. July had a 29.6% leap from the 476 in 2018, to 617 this year. Ok it’s not a massive jump in actual numbers, but encouraging to see the younger riders are getting on two wheels in the face of negative press and years of decline in the sector. Looking at the rest of the sectors we see the majority of motorcycle types increasing for the month, with the exception being the touring types. As mentioned here before though, this does not necessarily point to less people touring, but more are using alternatives that are more multi-purpose, in the form of a large naked machine with removable luggage fitted that can be removed for everyday use. Just look at the offers around many manufacturers and often free cases/boxes are used as an incentive to grab a customer’s attention.

July 2019 and Year to Date - New Registrations by Style

Mopeds	Registrations		%	Market Share (%)		Year to date		YTD	Market Share (%)
	Jul-19	Jul-18	Change	Jul-19	Jul-18	2019	2018	% Change	2019	2018
Scooter	476	389	22.4%	77.1%	81.7%	2,797	2,421	15.5%	80.2%	82.9%
Other	141	87	62.1%	22.9%	18.3%	689	499	38.1%	19.8%	17.1%
Totals	617	476	29.6%	100.0%	100.0%	3,486	2,920	19.4%	100.0%	100.0%

Motorcycles	Registrations		%	Market Share (%)		Year to date		YTD	Market Share (%)
	Jul-19	Jul-18	Change	Jul-19	Jul-18	2019	2018	% Change	2019	2018
Adventure Sport	1,525	1,378	10.7%	16.5%	15.4%	12,820	11,708	9.5%	19.6%	18.3%
Custom	843	804	4.9%	9.1%	9.0%	4,940	5,824	-15.2%	7.5%	9.1%
Naked	3,440	3,277	5.0%	37.3%	36.5%	22,742	21,536	5.6%	34.8%	33.7%
Scooter	1,768	1,814	-2.5%	19.2%	20.2%	12,183	11,497	6.0%	18.6%	18.0%
Sport/Tour	223	336	-33.6%	2.4%	3.7%	1,641	2,148	-23.6%	2.5%	3.4%
Supersport	752	722	4.2%	8.2%	8.1%	5,478	5,441	0.7%	8.4%	8.5%
Touring	178	188	-5.3%	1.9%	2.1%	1,472	1,757	-16.2%	2.2%	2.7%
Trail/Enduro	493	410	20.2%	5.3%	4.6%	4,126	3,921	5.2%	6.3%	6.1%
Unspecified	1	38	-97.4%	0.0%	0.4%	40	119	-66.4%	0.1%	0.2%
Totals	9,223	8,967	2.9%	100.0%	100.0%	65,442	63,951	2.3%	100.0%	100.0%

Tricycles	Registrations		%	Market Share (%)		Year to date		YTD	Market Share (%)
	Jul-19	Jul-18	Change	Jul-19	Jul-18	2019	2018	% Change	2019	2018
Scooter	42	35	20.0%	0.4%	0.4%	218	255	-14.5%	0.3%	0.4%
Other	34	28	21.4%	0.3%	0.3%	235	164	43.3%	0.3%	0.2%
Total Registrations	76	63	20.6%	0.8%	0.7%	453	419	8.1%	0.7%	0.6%

Summary	Registrations		%	Market Share (%)		Year to date		YTD	Market Share (%)
	Jul-19	Jul-18	Change	Jul-19	Jul-18	2019	2018	% Change	2019	2018
Total Moped, Motorcycle & Tricycles (exc Scooters)	7,630	7,268	5.0%	76.9%	76.5%	54,183	53,117	2.0%	78.1%	78.9%
Total Scooters	2,286	2,238	2.1%	23.1%	23.5%	15,198	14,173	7.2%	21.9%	21.1%
Total Registrations	9,916	9,506	4.3%	100.0%	100.0%	69,381	67,290	3.1%	100.0%	100.0%

July 2019 and Year to Date - New Registrations by Engine Band

Engine Band	Registrations		%	Market Share (%)		Year to date		YTD	Market Share (%)
	Jul-19	Jul-18	Change	Jul-19	Jul-18	2019	2018	% Change	2019	2018
0-50cc	674	517	30.4%	6.8%	5.4%	3,721	3,074	21.0%	5.4%	4.6%
51-125cc	3,306	3,384	-2.3%	33.3%	35.6%	20,452	19,889	2.8%	29.5%	29.6%
126-650cc	1,970	1,570	25.5%	19.9%	16.5%	14,747	12,901	14.3%	21.3%	19.2%
651-1000cc	2,179	2,316	-5.9%	22.0%	24.4%	16,075	16,678	-3.6%	23.2%	24.8%
Over 1000cc	1,787	1,719	4.0%	18.0%	18.1%	14,386	14,748	-2.5%	20.7%	21.9%
Total Registrations	9,916	9,506	4.3%	100.0%	100.0%	69,381	67,290	3.1%	100.0%	100.0%

July 2019 and Year to Date - Highest Registering Model by Style

Mopeds	Highest Registering Model by style	Jul-19
Scooter	Lexmoto ECHO 50	100
Other	Lexmoto HUNTER 50 TD 50 Q	38

Motorcycles	Highest Registering Model by style	Jul-19
Adventure Sport	BMW R 1250 GS ADVENTURE	116
Custom	Harley-Davidson SPORT GLIDE 1745	71
Naked	Honda CB 125 F	198
Scooter	Honda PCX 125	246
Sport/Tour	Kawasaki Z1000 SX	73
Supersport	Yamaha YZF R125	89
Touring	BMW R 1250 RT	46
TRAIL/ENDURO	KTM 300 EXC TPI	74

Tricycles	Highest Registering Model by style	Jul-19
SCOOTER	Piaggio MP3 300 HPE	19
OTHER	Harley-Davidson FREEWHEELER 1868	7

July 2019 - Highest Registering Model by Engine Size

Engine Band	Highest Registering Model by Engine Band	Jul-19
0-50cc	Lexmoto ECHO 50	100
51-125cc	Honda PCX 125	246
126-650cc	Royal Enfield INTERCEPTOR INT 650	183
651-1000cc	Yamaha MT-07 ABS	118
Over 1000cc	BMW R 1250 GS ADVENTURE	116

July 2019 - New Registrations by Brand

Major Brands	Jul-19
Honda	1,903
Yamaha	906
Kawasaki	759
Triumph	717
BMW	675
Lexmoto	660
KTM	626
Harley-Davidson	491
Royal Enfield	351
Suzuki	314

Used Market

As previously mentioned there is the usual slowing of the market we get every year, the timing of the start of this does change every year and pricing of bikes does depend on retail demand. In short research is indicating both are on the decline and that has been reflected in this month’s product, with widespread cutting of prices across the board.

Auctions

End Notes

The results for the first half of the year in the European markets is now available from the ACEM.

Even though the new registration figures for the UK market are continuing in a positive direction, a comparison to the major markets in Europe show the growth is well below par. Interestingly, the Netherlands, a country that is seeing a lot of exporting activity from our market does not have a large new motorcycle market. The French market is now the largest PTW in the region, this though is down to the large increase in the moped market.

The first half of the year for Yamaha saw global revenue from motorcycles reducing by 1.6% (to £3.913bn) and total sales volume was 3.5% down (to 2.516 million bikes). Turnover from developed markets was 3.6% lower (at £977m), the European market dropped a minimal 0.8% (to £612m), North America had a bad time dropping by 10.7% (to £172m), the Japanese domestic market reduced by 4.4% (to £153m) and Australia and New Zealand were 5.6% down (to £40m). Unit volume in Europe was 3.8% up (to 109,000) but the North American market, as similar with other manufacturers declined by 8.6% 9to 32,0000 and Japan fell by 6.1% to 46,000.

A variety of woes in India have put a big dent in Honda’s motorcycle business results covering the first quarter of its 2019/2020 fiscal year. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports. Hondas global sales volume in Q1 fell by 8.1% 9to 4.921 million bikes, with a large contributing factor from Asian markets losing ground to the tune of 9.5% (to 4.378 million), the main contributor being the Indian market suddenly changing for the worse due to a shrinking market, following changes in the law including rider insurance and exhaust emissions requirements. Honda’s wholly-owned Indian subsidiary HMSI suffered a massive 20.4% fall (to 1.344m), and Thailand was 10.7% down (to 334,000) being the two main culprits. Europe was a better result as it grew by 5% (to 84,000), unlike other brands North America was 2.8% up (to 74,000) and the Japanese market up 4.1% (to 51,000). Other regions performing well for the brand were Latin America and West Africa, doing well with a 7.4% increase (to 334,000). The Asian problem did have an effect on global turnover and earnings. Total quarterly revenue dropped by 3.9% (to £4.114bn), associated operating profit plummeted 24.2% (to £539m) and operating margin sank to 13.1% from the previous 16.6%.

More bad news from Kawasaki Heavy Industries in the first part of its new fiscal year, with both turnover and shipment volume lower in the first quarter to 30 June, with revenue dropping 7.3% (to £517.2m) and operating loss of £21.6m. A small positive in that is it is better than the previous year £25m loss.

European manufacturers had a better time in recent financial reporting circles, with the Piaggio Group leading the way with a total revenue for the first six months of 2019 leaping by 12% (to £748m), with the two-wheeled portion of this increasing by 12.1% (to £534.2m). When including light commercials, the operating profit was 21.3% up (to £68.8m). Operating margin rose to 9.2%, compared to the 8.5% in the same period last year and net profit shot up 29.6% (to £31.7m). PTW global sales volume grew by 5.9% (to 215,900), with the Asia-Pacific region up 20.2% up and Europe and America together adding 6.7%. The scooter segment enjoyed double-digit turnover growth, led the Vespa brand increasing by 16%.

Staying in Europe, Ducati’s total revenue fell by 3.3% (to £392.2m), but operating profit grew by 2.3% (to £39.7m) making the operating margin increase 10.2% from the 9.5% last year. This was on the back of total retail sales volume 1.8% down (to 31,716), with Western Europe making up the lost numbers in the continued declining North American area.

After a 2018 performance not up to scratch that BMW Motorrad has seen over the last few years, the first half of the current financial year has seen revenue from bikes increase by 11.1% (to £1.197bn), associated operating profit rose by 9.1% (to £174.2m) and operating margin reduced slightly by 0.3% (to 14.5%), but pre-tax profit increased by 7.5% (to £170.5m).

Over the pond there is a continued fallout from a combination of politics and market problems (probably caused by politics) manifesting itself in the 2019 half-yearly results from Harley-Davidson. Total turnover was down 7.3% (to £2.424bn), revenue from motorcycles and related products reduced by 9% (to £2.113bn), operating profit plummeted by 24.4% (to £340.1m) and net profit also crashed by 22.4% (to £259.9m). Global retail motorcycle sales volume fell 6.6% (to 120,997), their domestic sales fell by 6.5% (to 70,853) compared to the 601cc-plus US market decline of 4.8% (to 144,623). Internationally their volume was 6.6% down (to 50,144) but back to politics affecting things and the European sales dropped by 9.8% (to 23,211) even though ACEM data showed 5.7% growth (to 267,212). To overcome this Harley-Davidson recently obtained regulatory approvals confirming that motorcycles shipped from the company’s Thailand operations to the EU would receive more favourable tariff treatment than if they were shipped from the US. The rest of the world had a similar story and has cut its annual sales forecasts again as a consequence of Donald Trump's tariff war. The president compounding the brands problems recently when calling for a boycott on the brand when it declared it would be moving manufacturing overseas, ironically because of Trump’s tariffs that were crippling its business. Not laying down and taking they are continuing development with a new range of lightweight motorbikes targeted primarily at a growing Asian market, Live Wire making them the first big name into mainstream electric motorcycle production and other models away from the core custom products.

The nice to report finish to this month’s ramble is the story of a disabled veteran who restores motorcycles for charity, former Royal Navy Submariner Mark Hancock, who lost both legs through illness, who restores motorcycles free for the “Let’s Do” veteran support charity, continued support looked doubtful after all his tools were stolen during a break-in at his property. After being contacted through Facebook for possible donations of spare tools to replace those taken motorcycle dealer Fowlers stepped in and replaced them for free.