Sources: Revzilla / CT, SB, MPT, B & B, BDN, AP, Reuters, MSNW, MCN, AMD
NEWS
BRIEFS
Spanish luggage manufacturer SHAD was awarded the new International German Design Award 2017 for its SH36 cases in recognition of their“ innovative design”. The accolade follows the International Red Dot award received for the design in 2015.
Honda is starting a joint venture with Hitachi Automotive Systems to produce motors for electric vehicles. A“ memorandum of understanding” was signed between the two Japanese giants in February for a Hitachinaka City( Ibaraki) based enterprise that will be jointly capitalised to the tune of an initial 5 billion yen( approx. 40 euro). It is reported that the new company will have sales and production subsidiaries in China and the United States.
Spanish EV manufacturer Torrot( owner of Gas Gas) leads sales in the Spanish 2-wheel electric sector for January. The new Torrot Muvi urban electric bikes are boosting sales for the company, with the Muvi City version heading sales with 56 units sold in January, out of a market total of 268 units of all brands sold.
BMW Motorrad says it has had a good start to 2017 globally, with a total of 7,503 motorcycles and maxiscooters delivered to customers in January, an increase of 0.2 % on the same month last year.
Parts Europe with more brands, more products and more pages for 2017
The Parts Europe catalogue has been growing every year since the company opened its stateof-the-art distribution facility at Wasserliesch, near Trier in Germany in 2008, with the carefully chosen location allowing the company to supply almost all dealers in Europe within a day. Every year the Parts Europe Street catalogue
grows, and with it the staff at the European headquarters( some 160 people), making Parts Europe one of the largest distribution teams in Europe. This year, there are some 370 fewer pages in the main catalogue, but the company is also now offering a unique new dealer guide to tyres, service and workshop items, chemicals and lubricants that provides their dealers with an additional 580 pages of high turnover, high margin and often exclusive brands and product items. The‘ Street’ catalogue is still a beast though, at 1,624 deskbending pages of the most“ outstanding selection of top brands and new products in the industry”. Available in print and online, they detail the complete Street inventory available from the European operation of the world’ s largest parts, accessory, performance, tuning, service and apparel products distributor. A wholly-owned subsidiary of the US based LeMans Corporation, a 38 million euro investment has produced a 16,500 sq m distribution centre offering 750 brands and over 280,000 products. www. partseurope. eu
EICMA drops plan for extra public day
ANCMA, the Italian motorcycle industry trade association, has been forced into an embarrassing volte face after it failed to ensure it had sufficient backing for its plan to add an extra public attendance day to EICMA. The plan, which was the subject of what can be best described as a“ soft launch”, would have seen the show extended with Monday, traditionally the last of the set-up days, becoming one of the two Press and Trade Visitor days, with the Wednesday fully open to the public, making for a fifth public day, with the show still open through Sunday. The move was not well received among the show’ s parts, accessory, gear and apparel exhibitor community, with many small businesses considering whether the increased costs would be the final factor to make them decide to abandon the show in the face of increasingly unconvincing attendance profiles. The members of ANCMA, the motorcycle manufacturers and selected vendors with OE parts contracts, must have approved the plan, but the wider exhibitor community, whose booth fees subsidise those of the members, were clearly not happy. Several contacted IDN as well as the organisers, and it would appear that the show has had to curtail its ambitions. There had been some speculation that the move was a
precursor to returning the show to a biennial frequency. Either way, EICMA is now( in theory) back to being two Media / Trade / VIP visitor days, Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by four public days Thursday through Sunday, with opening to 10:00 pm on the Friday.