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Piaggio has reported net sales of € 600.1m
(-26.5%) for the six months to 30 June 2020
Industrial gross margin was €171.7m,
a 28.6% return on net sales; operating
expenses were €147m; EBITDA was
€83.1m, EBITDA margin 13.8%, with
EBIT of €24.7m at 4.1% margin.
Profit before tax was €15.1m with net
profit of € 9.1m. The net financial
position was 528.5 € /mln, an
improvement of 20.1 € /mln. The
company shipped 210,300 vehicles
worldwide (down from 321,500 for
the first six months in 2019). Capital
expenditure was €52.8m; industrial
gross margin was € 171.7m, down
-31.3%; the return on net sales was
28.6% with Group operating
expenses of €147m.
In two-wheeler terms, the Group sold
163,000 two-wheelers worldwide
(-24.5%), generating net sales of
€ 467.6m. The overall decline arose
largely from downturns in the EMEA
and the Americas markets (-20.5%
sales volumes; -21.5% net sales) and
in India (-58.4% sales volumes; -49%
net sales). The Asia Pacific region was
-9.6% sales volumes, -4.7% net sales.
Piaggio says it "confirmed its
leadership in the European scooter
segment with a share of 24.1% and
maintained a strong position in the
North American scooter market, with a
share of 23.9%. In North America, the
Group is also consolidating its
presence in the motorcycle segment
with the Aprilia and Moto Guzzi
brands.
The scooter segment saw an increase
in Vespa sales in a number of Asian
countries, most notably China, and a
rise in sales of the Piaggio Medley
high-wheel scooter.
In the motorcycle segment, sales were
steady for the Moto Guzzi V85TT and
for the Aprilia RS 125 and Shiver.
In commercial vehicles, the Piaggio
Group reported sales volumes of
47,300 vehicles (-55.2%) and net
sales of € 132.4m (-43.3%). Group
sales dropped by 45% in the EMEA
and Americas markets and by 56.3%
in India.
The Piaggio Group is working on a
project for the development and
production of a new range of light
commercial four-wheel vehicles, the
new Porter. The vehicle will be
produced in the Italian factory in
Pontedera, and operations are
expected to begin by the end of the
year.
Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), the
Piaggio Group robotics and future
mobility company based in Boston,
USA, continued the marketing of its 10
kmh/20 kg payload Gita "follow-me
robot carrier". Featuring a 4-hour
battery life, Gita is produced in the
Piaggio Fast Forward factory in the
Charlestown district of Boston.
With the return to production at the
Baramati plant in India on 11 May, all
Piaggio Group manufacturing facilities
had resumed operations. Also in May,
the invalidity division of the European
Union Intellectual Property Office
(EUIPO) declared a design registered
Limited Edition Vespa 946
Christian Dior
by a Chinese party, used to justify the
production of scooters similar to the
Vespa and exhibited at the EICMA
2019 two-wheeler show in Milan, to
be invalid.
In June, the Vespa and Paris fashion
house Christian Dior announced a
collaboration agreement on the Vespa
946 Christian Dior, designed by Maria
Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s creative director
for women's collections. The iconic
scooter will be available from Spring
2021 in Dior boutiques around the
world and subsequently in selected
Piaggio Motoplex flagship stores.
In July Piaggio signed a €60m credit
facility "to enable the parent company
to continue consolidating and
expanding its leadership position in
the mobility sector, and further
strengthen the Group's financial
structure" and has delayed the
decision on the distribution of an
interim dividend for 2020 until its Q3
results are seen.
The Zongshen Piaggio Foshan
Motorcycle joint venture in China has
launched the Aprilia Pagani 150 - a
modern style café racer - an ABS
equipped 6-speed design variant of
the CR150 based on the same 18 hp
150 cc single. Described by Ride Apart
as, essentially, a rebadged 1948
Mondial Pagani, Aprilia’s Pagani,
however, was borrowed from F.B.
Mondial - the storied Italian brand that
Piaggio makes in China.
Meanwhile in India, Piaggio has
launched new BS6 compliant Aprilia
('Storm') and Vespa (VXL and SXL) 125
cc scooters.
Moto Guzzi has introduced four new
V7 III Custom Kits (Stripes, Red &
Black, Classic Green and Raw) in
addition to the unfinished 'Sketchbike'
black side panels, unfinished fairings,
tail cowl and bare metal gas tank kit
programme.
18 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 www.idnmag.com