American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 173 December 2013 | Page 4

Was that a ‘pivot-point’
we just stepped over?
T the end of October I approached preparations for my annual
trip to the ‘Milan Show’ in Italy with a heavy heart. Not only
because I have so much enjoyed reducing the amount of time
I have been spending on the road this year, but because of all the
year’s major show trips, EICMA (as the show is formally known) has
become one to endure rather than enjoy in recent years as Europe’s
mainstream liquid-cooled (‘Metric’) motorcycle market has continued
to evaporate before our eyes.
Although the show has, in recent years, substantially
increased its play on the custom scene, it has only done
so because the other sectors of the domestic Italian
and wider international motorcycle industry that the
event serves have all suffered so badly.
The event had crashed its booth pricing for the
custom market in a cynical attempt to prop up trade
association finances, exploiting the growth of a sector
that the event had never previously been inclined to
extend either a welcome or any understanding to.
Against that background the ‘vibe’ at the show has become worse for each
of the last five years or so, as overall all-brand new motorcycle sales in Europe
have continued to plummet.
Yes, of course there was a major collapse in overall motorcycle sales in most
main markets as the recession hit, including the United States where total two
wheeler sales collapsed from a peak of around 1.4m around 2006, ‘07, ‘08 to
the kind of 400,000 to 500,000 units a year levels not seen since the early 1990s;
and that is to say nothing of the financial impact created by the ‘hero-to-zero’
almost overnight decline in an ATV/Quad and ‘side x side’ market that barely
existed back then.
ut to give you an idea of just how badly the mainstream all-brands/all-bikes
market in Europe has suffered (and apologies if I am trotting out figures that
I have already shared in recent months) sales of all brands and all displacements
in Europe have dropped from just a tad under 3m units a year as recently as
2007/2008 to, more than likely, barely a tad over 1m units a year by the end of
this year.
As the owner of the only international dealer magazine dedicated to that
market in Europe believe me, those are the sort of stats that get your attention,
stats that represent the kind of business cycle that you see reflected in your own
income very quickly indeed!
It is with quite a sense of relief therefore that I can say that while the top-line
figures show no signs of improving anytime soon, the overall industry ‘vibe’ at
EICMA was actually a lot better than it has been in recent years, and while it
would be wrong to say that I came away from the experience full of the joys of
spring, I definitely did so with a sense of relief.

A

That relief centered around a very practical and realistic ‘it is what it is’ attitude
that no longer appears to be informing or shaping attitudes towards trying to
compete for the business that remains ‘out there’.
In all likelihood we are looking at another 24 to 36 months before any kind
of stability will be seen in new unit registration numbers in Europe, never mind
any tangible sense of bounce.
However, with the total ‘bike park’ and the total of miles being ridden down
by nothing like as much as the new sales stats and still soft used model prices
would suggest they should be, it was reassuring, )?????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????]]%$?)A????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????I=$???????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????5?5??????)?????????????X?Q???????????????)??? ????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????
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