International Dealer News IDN 150 August/September 2019
COMMENT: Second Quarter ACEM data points to market softening .............. Page 4
Italian new motorcycle registrations +8.7% to July ........................................................................................................................ Page 8
FEMA - no plan for compulsory speed limiters ................................................................................................................................. Page 16
TecMate four-bank chargers - keeping batteries fresh and ready ................................................................................ Page 17
Bihr Distribution establishes German
subsidiary with exclusive Arai, Bell
Helmets, Answer and RST apparel
contracts; expands into other markets
artenheim, France
based distributor Bihr
Distribution
has
announced
an
expansion of its distribution
activities into new markets and
extensions, some of them
exclusive, to major distribution
partnerships.
The headline news is of exclusive deals
to sell Arai helmets, Bell helmets and
the British owned and designed RST
riding apparel line in Germany and the
establishment of a new German
subsidiary (Bihr GmbH) to provide
customer service to German dealers,
with logistics being handled out of the
company's international distribution
centre in north east France, near the
Swiss and German borders.
The deal with Arai starts in September
2019 and is an exclusive one for
Germany. It is an extension of Bihr's
existing relationship with the famous
Japanese helmet brand - a relationship
that sees Bihr already handling Arai
dealer sales in France and Belgium.
Michio Arai, grandson of founder
B
Hirotake Arai and current CEO of Arai
Helmets Ltd., said: "We are very
pleased to have found an agreement
with Bihr to distribute our helmets in
Germany. The Bihr team has clearly
Bihr CEO Christophe Piron
demonstrated their ability to distribute
our products in France and Belgium,
and we are more than happy to
expand our collaboration to
Germany."
For Bihr, CEO Christophe Piron, who
NEws ROOM 6-21, 48
took over at Bihr in March this year,
said: "We are very honoured to have
the opportunity to distribute Arai
products in Germany. Arai has a
fantastic range of products with a
safety reputation second to none. Our
partnership with Arai in France and
Belgium has been extremely
successful and we are thrilled to
expand it into Germany."
The Arai story is the stuff of legends,
with Hirotake Arai starting out as a
hatmaker in 1926 and then starting to
make motorcycle safety helmets in
1950.
Bell helmets are an equally storied
brand, having been started by Roy
Richter in the garage of a southern
Californian Speed Shop in 1954. Bihr's
deal with Bell sees them becoming the
exclusive distributor for Germany and
Austria and takes the number of
European markets in which Bihr
represents Bell to 12, including France
and Spain.
Christophe Piron commented: "We
are very excited about starting the
Continues on page 10 >>>
TRADEZONE 45
AUG/SEPT ’19
ISSUE #150
STATZONE 6-8
➠
MOOSE RACING
FOR 2020
10TH
ANNIVERSARY
ROCKET 3
WITH AVON
TYRES
INDEX 46