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NEWS
BRIEFS
Kreidler Europe Motor GmbH ( based near Bielefeld in Germany ) is insolvent . Founded by Anton Kreidler in 1903 , the cult status of the Kreidler brand ( owned by two-wheeler manufacturer Cycle Union GmbH / Prophete Group ) was being leveraged for the development and sale of bicycles , scooters , mopeds and small motorcycles from 50 to 125 cc under the " Kreidler " label . Five plus years ago , the production of all ICE series models was discontinued with the focus instead on selling twowheelers with electric drives , e-bikes and pedelecs . ( B & B )
Royal Enfield ' s electric motorcycles are " in advanced stages of testing ", according to reports . A bike coded L1C is expected to be on sale by 2025 . Meanwhile , in other and almost certainly not unconnected news , RE parent company Eicher Motors recently made a strategic € 50,000,000 ( 10.35 %) investment in Anton Wass ' 2019 founded Barcelona based Stark Future SL - of insanely good Stark ' Varga ' electric MX bike fame .
Norton has started to make deliveries of its new , re-engineered V4SV - the 185 bhp , 1,200 cc V-four luxury sports bike that got caught up in the fallout from the collapse of the Garner era Norton farrago before the brand was bought out of bankruptcy by Indian conglomerate TVS and rehomed at a new production facility at Solihull , Birmingham , in England . Deliveries of its new Commando variants are also underway in this , Norton ' s 125th anniversary year . ( BDN )
Energica Motor Company has delivered its first shipments to Japan and Australia - deliveries include Energica ' s newest model , the Experia . In Japan it has signed a strategic partnership with importer Estar & Co ., Ltd ., who has opened a mono-brand showroom in Kobe , on the man-made island of Rokkō Island . It showed the 2023 Energica range at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show in March . Energica has partnered with Australian Electric Motor Co . to import its electric motorcycles into Australia and New Zealand . From its HQ on the Gold Coast , AEMC is developing a network of dealers throughout the continent . Additionally , Energica recently introduced its products to the Pakistan market .
PDG adds Direct Distribution to Hoco UK
Breda , Netherlands based Powersports Distribution Group ( PDG ) has further added to its burgeoning UK Hoco Parts operation with the acquisition of Direct Distribution . A well-known and established UK based wholesale distributor of motorcycle parts and accessories , Direct Distribution will further strengthen the position of Hoco Parts UK " as the national distributor of premium motorcycle parts and accessories in the UK market ". Denis Brouwer , CEO of PDG , said : " Direct Distribution is the next step for our company to become the leading player in the European market . The acquisition fits perfectly into our successful strategy in growing our businesses , both organically and via acquisitions . The employees , customers and suppliers of Direct Distribution will further strengthen our already strong market position in the UK , and we will make sure that they have a warm welcome in the PDG family ." This follows four previous acquisitions in the UK . In 2019 , PDG and Hoco Parts Group acquired Bradbury Brothers and Rob Hunter , followed by the acquisition of Neo Distribution in
PIERER Mobility AG , the Austria based parent company of KTM North America , Inc . and PIERER New Mobility North America , has officially opened its new North American headquarters in Murrieta , California . Special guests from all over the world were in attendance for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially unveiled world-class facilities dedicated to the company ' s premium motorcycle brands KTM , Husqvarna Motorcycles , GasGas and MV Agusta ; in addition to bicycle brands Husqvarna E-Bicycles , GasGas Bicycles and FELT Bicycles and high-end components under the WP brand . With global headquarters based in Austria , PIERER Mobility AG is Europe ' s leading manufacturer of powered two-wheelers and has been an active player in the
2020 and B & C express in 2021 . The combined company is trading as Hoco Parts UK . " The complete and comprehensive portfolio of products and services will
be offered from three offices , Shipley , Lincoln and the main headquarters of Hoco Parts UK in Huddersfield ". Arno van de Glind , Managing Director of Hoco Parts Group , said : " We are very pleased to welcome Direct Distribution and its experienced team to our company and we look forward to further developing our UK presence . This is an important step in the further development of Hoco Parts Group , which we are actively expanding with a well-filled M & A pipeline in both the UK and other European national markets ."
KTM North America - new corporate headquarters
North American market since 1967 . " This is an emotional day for me ," said Stefan Pierer , CEO of PIERER Mobility AG . " Exactly 30 years ago , I started in the USA with only a dozen employees . Today , we are Europe ' s leading Powered Two-Wheeler group , we ' re selling approx . 100,000 units annually in the U . S . market , so more than one billion dollars in sales . Building our new North American headquarters in Murrieta was the biggest single investment we ' ve ever made ." The development was initially announced in August 2021 and the project officially broke ground in November of the same year . Following an extraordinary development phase over the past 15 months , the $ 53m corporate campus is now operational with three
Nigel Worthington , Director and owner of Direct Distribution , added : " We are very happy that we have been able to conclude this deal . This is a great opportunity for the people of Direct Distribution and will strengthen the position of all our brands and help us to offer an even greater service to our customers ." PDG is structured with three divisions : general motorcycle aftermarket B2B distribution in the non-metric and metric motorcycle parts & accessories market across Europe with Hoco Parts and Motorcycle Storehouse ; vintage parts distribution with CMS , a leading global distributor of vintage Japanese motorcycle parts and the Hobbyist , a global distributor of BMW motorcycle parts ; category management with AFAM GROUP , an aftermarket supplier to worldwide motorcycle parts distributors with transmission and battery brands such as AFAM , Nitro and Shido . PDG is majority owned by Torqx Capital Partners ( Bussum , Netherlands and Antwerp , Belgium ) in partnership with management and former owners . www . powersportsdistribution group . com www . hocoparts . com
state-of-the-art buildings that include over 130,000 sq ft of space dedicated to the company ' s technical development , administrative offices , media relations , dealer training , warehouse and world championship racing departments , with 12 additional acres set aside for future development . The group ' s purpose-built private motorsports facility - RD Field - sits one block south of the corporate campus , equipped with two supercross test tracks , hard enduro test track and a trials competition section for product testing and athlete training .
10 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - APRIL / MAY 2023 www . idnmag . com