International Dealer News IDN 147 February/March 2019 | Page 64

news ROOM
Honda: unit sales +8 percent
BRIEFS YTD in Europe
NEWS
Ducati has again been certified in Italy
as a “Top Employer”, gaining
recognition for its “excellent working
conditions” and for offering “training
and skills development at all levels of
the company”. The accolade is
awarded by the Top Employers Institute
in Italy, based on an audit of responses
to an HR best practices survey.
The new Ducati E-MTB has started
to arrive in dealerships. The
exclusive pedal-assist mountain
bike can be ordered from the
Ducati website or at Ducati
dealerships throughout Europe.
Co-developed by Ducati and Thok
E-Bikes, with design and graphics
by Aldo Drudi's D-Perf and
support from the Ducati Style
Center, it was unveiled at EICMA
2018 and described as a “cutting-
edge E-MTB able to meet the
needs of even the most expert
riders”.
The UK consumer show Motorcycle Live
(Birmingham, November 2018)
attracted 103,702 visitors. The total
was 3,370 down on 2017 and failed to
meet the growth target of the
organiser, the UK motorcycle industry
trade association MCIA. The MCIA is
also saying that new UK motorcycle
registrations in the UK in 2019 are
likely to be +2.5% on the 105,467
recorded in 2018, which will be
substantially below the 115,000
forecast made by MCIA CEO Tony
Campbell.
Zero Motorcycles has partnered
with Swiss based Quadro Vehicles
to produce the e-Qooder, an
electric four-wheeled maxi
scooter, by the end of 2019.
Quadro is already producing the
Qooder, a four-wheeled tilting
scooter with a built-in hydraulic
tilt system that allows it to bank
upwards of 45 degrees while
maintaining traction.
64
Honda Motor Co. has reported total
sales revenues for its worldwide
motorcycle business as up by +3.5%
(516.5bn yen) for its third quarter
(ended December 31st 2018) and
+6.1% (1,610.7bn yen) for the first nine
months of its ’18-’19 financial year
ending March 31st 2019.
For Q3, sales revenues for its motorcycle
business were +9.8% in Europe at
516.5bn yen.
Its biggest gain came in its home market
with revenues +17.5% for Q3 and
+12.2% for the nine months, with
motorcycle sales revenues +14.2%
(25.9bn yen) for Q3 in Europe and
+16.3% (139.1bn yen) for the nine
months to date.
North American sales revenues were
+4.8% for Q3 (41.2bn yen) and +1.6%
YTD (139.1bn yen) for North America.
Asian markets produced the majority of
Honda’s motorcycle business sales
revenues at 351.4bn yen (+3.0%) for
Q3 and 1,071bn yen (+6.9%) YTD.
Total Honda Group unit sales were
+5.9% worldwide at 15.7m units with
Europe +8% YTD (181,000 units). Total
unit sales (wholesale) in Asia were +6.6
% YTD at 11.36m units YTD - India is
their largest market in Asia (4.4m units),
followed by Indonesia (3.7m), Vietnam
(2.1m) and Thailand (1.1m).
For Q3 total worldwide Honda Group
unit sales (motorcycles, ATV, SxS etc)
were +2.9% at 5m units, selling 40,000
in Europe, 66,000 in North America and
53,000 units in Japan.
ETSC joins Training Quality
Label consortium
The European Transport Safety Council
(ETSC), the most important NGO in the
field of road safety in Europe, has joined
the European Motorcycle Training
Quality Label consortium as a
supporting member. The Label is a
voluntary certification scheme for post-
licence motorcycle training
programmes. It aims to help
motorcyclists easily identify the best
safety training programmes in Europe.
The motorcycle training school of the
Swedish Association of Motorcyclists
(SMC) has also recently been awarded
the European Motorcycle Training
Quality Label for their “Advice and
guidelines version 3 - The Basics”
programme. The SMC motorcycle
training school is the largest training
provider in Sweden and offers safety
training courses for different levels.
More than 10,000 motorcyclists
attended 300 SMC courses last year.
This brings the number of certified
programmes to 28 - in Sweden, France,
INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019
“We are delighted that the ETSC
recognises the importance of this
initiative and has decided to
endorse the European Training
Quality Label. We also congratulate
SMC for joining the group of the
best training providers in Europe”
Spain, the Netherlands, Austria and
Germany.
According to Antonio Perlot, Secretary
General of the European Association of
Motorcycle Manufacturers: “The
European Motorcycle Training Quality
Label is one of the main elements of the
motorcycle industry’s safety strategy
and we are confident that this action
contributes to the overall aim of making
Europe’s roads better and safer for all
motorcyclists. We are delighted that the
ETSC recognises the importance of this
initiative and has decided to endorse
the European Training Quality Label. We
also congratulate SMC for joining the
group of the best training providers in
Europe”.
Jesper Christensen, Secretary General
of the SMC, said: “Our members ride
80% of all motorcycle kilometres in
Sweden, so their safety is a top priority
for us. Our five hundred instructors of
the SMC School strive to reach out to
more riders and provide safety-
orientated and fun motorcycle training.
We are really happy that our
educational platform has received this
important recognition at the European
level.”
www.motorcycle-training-
label.eu
www.idnmag.com