International Dealer News IDN 154 April/May 2020 | Page 12

THE BRADLEY REPORT
NEWS
BRIEFS
The MCIA in the UK is demanding the
immediate introduction of the Euro 4
'End of Series' sales period provisions,
as provided for during the January 2017
transition from Euro 3 to 4, to be
introduced immediately and extended
by 12 months to allow Euro 4 vehicles
to be produced and registered
throughout 2021 with End of Series
derogations taking place in 2022.This
would allow a further year to sell Euro 4
vehicles already in stock or yet to be
produced. This is not a request for a
delay to the Introduction of Euro 5, but
simply for additional time to allow Euro
4 stocks to clear through the market.
The health emergency has brought the
PTW market to a near standstill, and
with the traditional spring and summer
demand peaks unlikely to be realised,
the result will be large quantities of
unsold product.
In the USA, Honda of South
Carolina Mfg., Inc. (Timmonsville,
SC) has suspended production at
its ATV and SxS/UTV factory from
March 26 through to April 10.
British crash
protection
specialist R&G
is to sponsor
the MotoAmerica race series again for
2020. Distributed in USA by Twisted
Throttle, the R&G range includes tank
sliders and engine case covers. Created
in 2014 by three-time 500 cc World
Champion, two-time AMA Superbike
Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer
Wayne Rainey, MotoAmerica is the
North American road racing series
created for the AMA Superbike
Championship.
Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
announced that nine-time World
Champion Valentino Rossi will ride
his last season as a Yamaha
Factory Racing MotoGP Team rider
in 2020. Following discussions
together, Yamaha and Rossi have
mutually agreed that the decision
as to whether the Italian will
remain an active rider in the
MotoGP World Championship in
2021 will be taken mid-2020. This
will be Rossi's 15th year with the
Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP
Team. Should Rossi decide to
continue as a MotoGP rider in
2021, Yamaha assures Rossi of the
availability of a factory-spec YZR-
M1 bike and full Yamaha Motor
Co., Ltd. engineering support.
12
Harley-Davidson
It has been a tough
quarter for the Milwaukee
based manufacturer. In
March it suspended
production at the York,
Pennsylvania assembly
plant and Wisconsin engine and
bodywork factories, that initial
suspension now having been
extended (indefinitely?) by the State
Governor as Wisconsin effectively
went into lockdown.
In January they published annual
results for 2019 that saw domestic US
sales down by -5.2% compared to
2018 at just 125,960 motorcycles
(+2.7%/29,513 units in Europe) and
worldwide down by -4.29% at
218,273 units, with total international
sales now accounting for 42%/92,313
of total motorcycle sales.
Five weeks later, and with a very
lucrative severance package
successfully negotiated, CEO Matt
Levatich was invited to embrace a
career change - it was Levatich who
was parachuted in from being
Managing Director of Harley-Davidson
Europe for a year when Harley had
acquired MV Agusta in October 2008
Ducati
Ducati's initial March 13
production suspension was
extended to March 25. That was
subsequently extended to April
3, and as we go to press, in line
with Italian government
regulations, this looked likely to
be extended to April 13 - though
that also looks optimistic. Most
observers acknowledge that
most business restrictions are
likely to remain in place until at
least the end of April, in Italy
and elsewhere.
"I am proud of how Ducati's
workers are facing this difficult
moment for our country," said
Claudio Domenicali, CEO of
Ducati Motor Holding, who was
recently appointed President of
the Motor Valley Association.
"My thanks go to all those who,
on a daily basis and even in a
difficult situation like this, are
confirming the great value of a
united, cohesive but also
sensitive and attentive
workforce. For them, for their
safety and for their security,
measures and choices like the
ones we are making are
necessary and owed.
"However, all the support
services for our customers are
INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - APRIL/MAY 2020
Jochen Zeitz, Harley interim
CEO and President
for $10m, including $70m in assumed
debt. Harley sold it back to Claudio
and Giovanni Castiglioni for € 3.00 a
year later (yes, three euro!).
Pending an executive search for a
replacement, the interim CEO and
President is a German - former Puma
and Kering luxury goods man Jochen
Zeitz, who is originally from Mannheim
and is now feverously trying to secure
himself a Green Card. Zeitz has been
on the H-D board since 2007, is an
author with an impressive array of
'side hustles' and will remain on the
board as Chairman once a new CEO
has been appointed.
Two weeks later Harley got sucked into
a proxy war with one of its
shareholders, Impala Asset
STOP PRESS
WORLD DUCATI
WEEK POSTPONED
TO 2021
Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati
Motor Holding and President of the
Motor Valley Association: "I am
proud of how Ducati's workers are
facing this difficult moment for our
country."
guaranteed, first and foremost
the supply of spare parts. We
want to reassure Ducatisti and
our dealers all over the world:
we are organising ourselves to
be ready for the restart and,
even in this period of downtime,
we will not fail to provide
support."
In other news Ducati confirmed
the provisionally released 2019
financial data that reported
Management, a $2.8bn hedge fund,
owned by activist investor Bob Bishop
(Impala owns approximately 1% of H-
D stock). The fight has now been
settled with Harley agreeing to allow
Impala, and the other investors they
are associated with, to appoint an
independent director to the board.
Meanwhile, the company fired its
Chief Operations Officer, in effect the
second-in-command to former CEO
Matt Levatich. Michelle Kumbier had
joined Harley in 2007 as VP Materials
Management and Quality.
Like all US businesses, the first quarter
has been a roller coaster for Harley's
share price. Having started the year at
around $37.00, it ended March at
$19.00, having dipped as low as
$14.31 at one stage and lost more
than three times its value from a post
2008 financial crisis high of over
$72.00 in May 2014. At $2.91bn,
Harley's market cap is now less than
that of rival Polaris Industries.
growth in turnover and
operating margin, delivering
53,183 motorcycles (2018:
53,004) for € 716 million in
turnover and € 52 million in
operating profit - equal to 7.2%
of operating margin - and
posted a historical record for
turnover per bike, about
€ 13,500 per motorcycle,
indicating the continued upward
shift of the range.
This was a fifth consecutive year
in which sales were over 50,000
motorcycles, with global growth
in the 500+ cc sector in which
Ducati operates put at +1.4%
for 2019.
Ducati says that both the
Panigale and Multistrada have
been instrumental in achieving
these results. The Panigale was
the best-selling super sportsbike
in the world for the second
consecutive year, with a market
share of 25%, while with the
addition of the 950 S and the
renewed 1260 Enduro to the
range, the Multistrada family
recorded the highest value of
motorcycles sold since entering
the market in 2003.
Ducati reports that it has a total
of 1,655 employees, with a sales
network of 720 dealers and
service points in over 90
countries.
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