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NEWS
BRIEFS
AJP Motos in Portugal ( founded in 1987 by former Enduro racer Antonio Pinto ) has appointed Central Powersports Distribution ( CPD - Watertown , SD ) as its new U . S . distributor . Mark Berg said : " AJP fits our current business model quite well . We already expect our first container to arrive in April / May of 2023 . CPD also distributes for other European OEM brands including Rieju and Torrot from Spain and SWM from Italy . It also sells OEM factory and replacement hard parts and brands such as FunnelWeb filters .
Honda ' s plans to involve itself in the space exploration industry have started to take shape with a research and development contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) for a " circulative renewable energy system " that is designed to supply electricity to maintain the functionality of the living space and various systems on lunar rovers . Based on this contract , Honda will be commissioned by JAXA to first conduct concept studies , then to develop an " early-stage prototype " by the end of the Japanese 2023 fiscal year ( March 31 , 2024 ).
BMW Group Poland says it has won its biggest tender in the history of the Polish police for 503 BMW R Series R 1250 RT motorcycles for the authorities in Poland .
Athena has announced what it describes as an " historic new partnership with HRC USA through the supply of GET branded electronic devices ". Connected with the dal , Athena will sponsor Team Honda HRC USA by becoming an integrated part of the racing programme , and the Athena brand will provide top-level support and products to fully exploit the team ' s potential . In 2023 , Athena and Honda America are preparing to celebrate 50 years in business and the 50th anniversary of its first motocross debut , respectively . Honda ' s U . S . Factory Team has chosen the GET RX1 Pro ECU , the SL1 data logger and the LC-GPA for the 250 cc class and with rpm dash for the 450 cc .
PIERER Mobility AG - " another record year in 2022 "
Pierer Group of Austria - the owner of KTM , Husqvarna , GasGas ( and more besides , including 25.1 % of MV Agusta ) - has made it a clean sweep of record years for Europe ' s ' Big Five ' manufacturers with a 13 % increase in the number of motorcycles sold ( all brands ) at 375,492 units ( 332,881 in 2021 ). Consolidated sales increased by 19.4 % to a new record of € 2,437m ( previous year : € 2,042m ) in the 2022 financial year despite severe supply chain challenges . The preliminary operating result ( EBIT ) improved by about 22 % to € 235m ( previous year : € 193m ), which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 9.7 %. The operating result before depreciation and amortisation ( EBITDA ) of € 381m is approximately € 50m more than in the previous year . The EBITDA margin amounts to 15.6 %. In the 2022 financial year , about € 268m were invested in growth initiatives , of which approximately € 161m was spent on product development and tools and € 62m in plant and infrastructure . In the past financial year , the number of employees increased by 839 to 6,088 - about 5,000 in Austria , with approximately 1,200 employees ( or 20 % of the workforce ) engaged in research and development . There were 268,575 KTM motorcycles , 75,266 Husqvarna motorcycles and 31,651 GasGas motorcycles sold . In the sales regions in Europe , unit sales were around 122,000 motorcycles (+ 2 %) and around two-thirds of the motorcycles ( approx . 253,000 ) were sold in the markets outside Europe . Growth was particularly strong in
North America , where almost 110,000 motorcycles were sold , an increase of + 67 %; South America with 37,600 (+ 16 %) and in Asia with about 32,000 (+ 7 %) motorcycles sold . Sales in Australia were roughly at the previous year ' s level ( -6 %) with around 19,500 motorcycles sold . In India / Nepal , sales were around 51,500 units ( -15 %). After a strong increase in global demand for motorcycles in the previous year , both the European motorcycle market ( -3 %) with a volume of about 730,000 units , and the North American motorcycle market ( -5 %) with a size of about 470,000 units have slightly decreased . The market share of all three brands was about 10 % in Europe and 11 % in North America in 2022 . The Australian ( including New Zealand ) motorcycle market also declined slightly , with a 10 % drop to 70,000 new motorcycles registered . Nevertheless , the market share of the three brands in total increased to 20 % in this market . The
KTM celebrates 19th Dakar Rally title with 2023 winner Kevin Benavides . relevant Indian motorcycle market , on the other hand , is clearly on the upswing (+ 23 %). Bajaj sold almost 50,000 KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles in India , resulting in a market share of 5 %. In addition , the bicycle division with the brands Husqvarna , R Raymon , GasGas and Felt achieved sales volume growth of more than 15 % and sold 118,465 bicycles ( previous year : 102,753 ), of which 74,479 were e-bicycles ( previous year : 76,916 ). About 81 % of the sales volume can be attributed to Europe and especially to the DACH region ( Germany , Austria and Switzerland ). Another 11 % relates to the North American sales region and around 7 % to the Asian sales region . PIERER Mobility AG reached a significant milestone with KTM in India . The one millionth motorcycle - a KTM Adventure 390 - rolled off the production line at Bajaj ' s Chakan plant in Pune . This Bajaj Auto Limited plant has been co-developing and producing KTM ( 125 cc to 390 cc ) and Husqvarna ( 125 cc to 401 cc ) motorcycles for global distribution since 2011 . Meanwhile , in Europe KTM AG took over European distribution for CFMoto motorcycles ( principally in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Spain and Great Britain ) through a newly founded KTM AG subsidiary ( CFMOTO Motorcycles Distribution GmbH ). In November 2022 , KTM AG acquired a 25.1 % stake in MV Agusta Motor S . p . A ., by way of a capital increase . As part of this strategic partnership between the two European motorcycle manufacturers , KTM says it will provide MV Agusta with supply chain support and will take over the sourcing of components , with MV Agusta partly distributing its product range through the worldwide PIERER Mobility distribution network .
12 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - FEBRUARY / MARCH 2023 www . idnmag . com