International Dealer News IDN EICMA Extra 2015 | Page 3

• COMMENT • COMMENT • COMMENT • COMMENT • COMMENT • COMMENT • EICMA 2015 a show for winners! elcome to a double first for International Dealer News - the first of our sequence of editions reviewing this year's EICMA 'Milan' Show, and our first ever entirely digital-only special edition. Itself conceived for two very good reasons (extra space for some of the large volume of content we generate during our visit to the show, and as a "bonus extra" opportunity for our advertisers), this special edition isn't instead of our usual post-show exhibitor news and booth photo feature - but an addition. Around a week after this digital-only edition is sent out, we will also be sending the link to our regular December/ January print/digital magazine, and with it a further 16 pages of further industry and vendor news and parts, accessory and apparel manufacturer and brand owner reports. The most striking thing about this year's EICMA was the considerably higher number of new products that were being introduced. Not just more than last year, but probably more than the last three or four "Milan" shows added together. We are accustomed to the number of new product introductions remaining high on the context of the very different environment and profile of INTERMOT at Cologne, Germany, every other year, but at EICMA it has proven to be variable, with the event showing definite signs of the economic issues the motorcycle industry has been facing. However, with at least somewhat of a recovery underway in most of Europe's main markets (despite ongoing political and macro-economic concerns), "Milan" is growing again. At the time of writing there had not yet been any kind of official attendance statement from ANCMA (the Italian motorcycle industry trade association that operates EICMA W (and personally I wasn't there to witness the weekend crowds), but despite the fact that the recovery in new motorcycle registrations is still at its early stages in Italy, there was no disguising the more positive attitude among the show's exhibitor community and the improved energy most were displaying. It has always been the case that when a downturn hits, the two first expenditures to suffer are marketing and research and development ironically the two most important to maintain during poor economic conditions. We here at International Dealer News can report that market budgets are on the rise again in most sectors of the industry, and the new product launches at EICMA also show that the pent up demand and opportunities for new products are finally being exploited. The outcome of all recessions has always shown that the primary losers are those who reduce marketing and R&D, and that the primary winners are those who maintained their spend and activity. So, while we are never able to visit and report on all exhibitors at multi-hall events such as EICMA and INTERMOT, in this and the subsequent editions of IDN and MotoWEEK we will report on as many of those "winners" as we can. ‘more new product than the past few years added together’ Robin Bradley Publisher [email protected] INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - EICMA EXTRA 2015 3