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BRIEFS
India has overtaken China as the world ’ s largest motorcycle market . Last year over 17.7m motorcycles were sold in India – around 1 m more than in China , where the 16.8 m motorcycles sold was actually a decline of -11 percent . Motorcycle sales in China are said to have peaked at around 19m units in 2009 – since then increasing numbers of Chinese cities have actually been banning motorcycle use , especially in city centres , in a ( mistaken ?) attempt to curb air pollution .
Troubled British exhaust manufacturer Motad has been rescued by Direct Distribution owner Nigel Worthington , guaranteeing a future for the Motad and Venom brand names . Worthington has said he would like to keep manufacturing in the UK if at all possible .
Bosch claims that V-2-V technology has the potential to prevent onethird of motorcycle accidents – incidents where the car driver didn ’ t see the motorcycle or vice versa .
British engineering and consultancy company Ricardo is reported to have bought Motorcycle Engineering Italia ( formerly known as Exnovo ). Riccardo is the company that developed BMW ’ s scooter and six-cylinder tourer and helped Norton with their V4 engine .
Honda UK Head of Motorcycles Nick Campolucci has left his position , replaced by Neil Fletcher .
Dutch portfolio equity investor ABN AMRO Participations has bought a majority stake in the Dutch / German exhaust specialist The Jekill and Hyde Company . Founded in 1997 by Jacques van de Kerhof , J & H develops exhaust systems with an electronically adjustable valve .
Parts Europe / Dunlop promotion winner
Earlier this year Parts Europe again teamed up with Dunlop to offer free tickets to the 2017 Motorcycle Grand Prix of Germany at the Sachsenring on 1st / 2nd of July . Dealers who ordered four Dunlop Sportsmart 2 Max tyres in one order from Parts Europe during the period from May 15 to June 16 were automatically entered into a prize draw . The winner was from Spain , Jonatan López Estradera , of Mountain Motos , and he received two tickets , access to the Dunlop VIP lounge right above the Start / Finish area , access to the pit lane and the opportunity to visit the
Further evidence that the Indian motorcycle market is poised to embrace larger cc motorcycles comes with Kawasaki announcing that it is to increase its manufacturing capacity there and commence local production of highdisplacement Ninja 1000s . It is planned for the new production lines to go into operation around September , following the introduction of production equipment – this is additional to the 250 – 650 cc models currently being manufactured by India Kawasaki Motors ( IKM ) in India . India is now the largest motorcycle market worldwide , paddock . The prize also includes one night in a hotel close to the race circuit
with FY 2016 sales reaching approximately 17.6 million units , among which about 680,000 were medium and large displacement motorcycles with engine displacements of 250cc or higher . As the Indian economy grows , Kawasaki says it expects to see continued expansion of the market for medium and high displacement leisure-use motorcycles . Kawasaki initially established IKM in 2010 inside the Bajaj Auto Ltd . ( BAL ) Akurdi plant facilities in Pune , contracting out production of Kawasaki brand motorcycles and utilising BAL ' s sales network to sell products . In 2013 , IKM began and dinner . www . partseurope . eu
Jonatan López Estradera , Thomas Stoffel , Manager Sales Capability at Goodyear Dunlop Tires D / A / CH , Simon Michelmann , Manager Sales Business Motorcycle Goodyear Dunlop Tires , Elisabet Perez Valiente , Pau López Perez , Matthias Twelker , Purchasing Parts Europe
Kawasaki to start making large cc Ninjas in India its own production of Kawasaki products and established an independent sales and aftersales service network in India , steadily laying the foundations for its motorcycle business in the domestic Indian market . Following the start of operations at the new IKM plant ( production capacity 16,000 units / year ), operations will cease at the former plant ( production capacity 5,000 units / year ) and all production activities will be relocated to the new facility on a 10,300 sqm site .
Energica dealer network expansion continues
Modena , Italy based E-SuperBike manufacturer Energica Motor Company S . p . A . continues to expand its dealer network with the appointment of Iwan Bikes GmbH near Munich . The company has also announced the appointment of Gerhard Ziegler as
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new Area Sales Manager Europe . “ Ziegler said that “ Germany is among the fastest growing EV markets of 2017 . At the same time , more than 7,000 charging points are already operational in Germany , including a significant number of DC CCS Combo charging stations of the kind used by Energica and the automotive industry ”. The Energica Ego and Energica Eva are already on sale through authorised importers around Europe and in the United States . www . energicamotor . com
16 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS