TRAVERSE Issue 19 - August 2020 | Page 65

TRAVERSE 65 With the best ever sales result for the month of June, BMW Motorrad enters the second half of the year with confidence. "After a great start to the new year, we were still up by the end of February, with an increase of almost 12% on the previous year," explained Dr. Markus Schramm, Head of BMW Motorrad. "Then the dynamic development of the Corona pandemic also began to have a negative impact on the demand for motorcycles. But we see clear light at the end of the tunnel again." With a total of 20,021 BMW motorcycles sold in June 2020, the equally strong sales of the previous month were surpassed by 9.8%. The figures also paint a pleasing picture in relation to total sales in the first half of 2020. Perhaps clear proof that leisure riding motorcycles is still very popular. Despite the very weak months of March to May caused by the Corona pandemic, BMW Motorrad was able to sell 76,707 motorcycles worldwide however, this represents a decrease of 17.7% compared to the previous year. Sales on the pan-European market were largely responsible for the positive development of BMW Motorrad in June 2020 where a total of 13,937 motorcycles were sold, 2,684 units more than in the same month of the previous year – an increase of 23.9%. In addition to the home market of Germany with an increase of 58.2%, the markets in France (+72.9%), the Benelux countries (+52.2%) and Portugal (+52.0%) contribute significantly to the recovery in Europe. The Asian-Oceania market was also pleasingly robust in the month of June. BMW Motorrad was able to sell 2,997 motorcycles in Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand, an increase of 17.3%. Particularly the new models were best sellers; F900R, F900XR and S100XR, all surpassed expectations and were favourites amongst buyers. The big Adventure bikes all had positive results too. "In the short term, of course, the operational focus is still on tackling the Corona crisis," said Timo Resch, Head of Sales and Marketing BMW Motorrad. "The team of BMW Motorrad and our international BMW Motorrad retail partners are also doing everything they can to be able to react as best as possible to the wishes and needs of our customers in the second half of 2020 with the clear goal of successfully closing 2020 in a difficult market environment, however, with significantly reduced sales compared to our record year in 2019. Of course, our entry into the Cruiser segment with the BMW R18 will also play an important role here."