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QJMotor - three models on sale in Germany By Ben Purvis
Sources : AMD , IDN , FT , Reuters , PSB , MPN , BDN , MCN , AP , Bloomberg , MSNW , Electrek , electricmotorcycles . news , RideApart . com , Motor1 . com , Cycle World , motorbikewriter . com
Like many global corporations at this time , Honda continues to invest its cash in share buybacks . The company bought back 3,827,000 shares of its common stock for around € 100m ( US $ 98m ) in the period August 12 through August 31 , 2022 . This is happening under a board authorisation to buy back up to 32 million shares ( 1.9 % of its issued shares ) in the period to March 31 , 2023 , at a total cost of up to 100bn yen (€ 717m / US $ 695m ).
Norton has announced that it will not now be putting either of the previously announced , affordable and much anticipated Norton Atlas middleweights into production any time soon ( if ever - the Nomad and the Ranger ). First unveiled in April 2019 towards the end of the now infamous Stuart Garner era , the Atlas was set to be an all-new , entry-level , retro-styled naked 650 cc , liquidcooled , parallel twin co-developed with China ' s Zongshen . Now though , under the ownership of India ' s TVS conglomerate , the plan has been cancelled - which will likely leave Zongshen and their domestic Chinese engine customers with a clear run at the platform , if not the brand names . Those who had paid deposits prior to the January 2020 closure of " Garner Norton " will have to seek redress from the bankruptcy liquidators . After the sale of Norton to TVS , interim CEO John Russell had originally told customers , in writing , that " Norton will build the Atlas ", with production commencing in the second half of 2021 , but present CEO Robert Hentschel has now confirmed that those plans have been abandoned .
BMW Motorrad USA has added shorter 3.8 " Akrapovic rear silencers to its accessory programme for the BMW R18 . Shorter than the two standard silencers , the Akrapovic units are made of durable stainless steel , coated in matt black with a silver end cap , which can be rotated in 90-degree steps . A screwed-in heat protection cover on each of the manifold sections of the slip-on rear silencers protects the rider ' s feet . With a combined weight of 19.2 lbs , the two Akrapovic rear silencers are 2.2 lbs lighter than the standard fishtail exhaust sections .
A couple of years ago , the QJMotor brand didn ' t even exist , but the company , an offshoot of the huge Qianjiang concern that owns Benelli , already has 37 models in production across every major market segment and promises even more . Until now , they ' ve only been available in China , but the first export models have been given European type-approval and have gone on sale in Germany .
SRK400
SRK700
Initially , the German market range starts with just three machines , but that number is going to grow throughout 2023 . The first bikes are the SRK700 , a modern , naked roadster built around a parallel twin engine , the SRK400 with similar looks but a smaller twin , and the SRV550 , a more retro-styled offering using yet another parallel twin . The SRK700 is one of QJMotor ' s most
recent models and the debut platform for a new twin that appears to be very similar to the engine used in the CFMoto 700 CL-X . The same engine is due to appear in future Benelli models , including the new TRK 702 , and makes a claimed 73.4 hp in Euro 5-certfied form , with 67 Nm of torque - matching the Yamaha MT-07 , its obvious target . In Germany , the 196 kg SRK700 is substantially cheaper than the Yamaha MT-07 or the CFMoto 700 CL-X . The same applies to the SRK400 , which , despite a larger engine , is arguably a rival for the Yamaha MT-03 , matching it with 41 hp but more torque at 37 Nm . There ' s a weight penalty for the
SRV550
bigger engine - the SRK400 is 18 kg heavier than the MT-03 at 186 kg . The more retro-styled SRV550 uses the same 554 cc engine that ' s due to appear in MV Agusta ' s Lucky Explorer 5.5 adventure bike - also made by Qianjiang - and the same twin is expected to appear in updated versions of the Benelli TRK 502 and Leoncino 500 . It has the same 47 hp output as the smaller 500 cc version of the engine to comply with European A2 licence rules , but makes an additional 6 Nm of torque at 51 Nm .
BMW - mixed results for H1
A total of 107,555 BMW motorcycles and scooters were delivered to customers in the period January to June 2022 , down slightly ( -0.1 %) on the 107,610 units sold in the first half of 2021 . Q2 saw 60,152 units delivered , -7.5 % down compared to 65,018 units in Q2 , 2021 . For H1 , 2022 revenues were up slightly at € 1,663m (+ 2.6 %), with Q2 accounting for greater than half of that at € 864m ( -0.5 % compared to Q2 , 2021 ). Motorcycle segment EBIT for H1 , 2022 totalled € 235m , which was -17.3 % compared to the same period of 2021 ; with an EBIT margin of 14.1 % ( HY1
2021 : 17.5 %; Q2 2022 : 14.7 %; Q2 2021 : 17.2 %). Speaking in corporate terms , the BMW Group says that it expects the current " high volatility to continue " through H2 - " we expect business conditions to remain difficult . The ongoing supply bottlenecks , particularly for semiconductors , the war in Ukraine and interruptions in supply chains have led to a decline in deliveries ". Also primarily addressing its automotive markets , BMW says that " the percentage of electrified vehicles should still increase
significantly , and sales of fully electric vehicles are expected to more than double ". As an indicator of the transport market ' s ' direction of travel ' it is interesting to note that this amounted to 75,890 fully electric vehicles of all kinds in the first six months of 2022 and that electrified vehicles ’ share of total deliveries ( which includes hybrids ) rose to 15.9 % from 11.4 % in the first half of 2021 .
8 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2022 www . idnmag . com