International Dealer News IDN 141 February/March 2018 | Page 10

news ROOM
Piaggio unit sales +12.4
BRIEFS percent in Q3
NEWS
The long running dispute
between Alpinestars and
Dainese in Germany has been
resolved. Alpinestars are now
banned from selling its Tech Air
products in Germany as it was
found to have violated two
Dainese D-Air patents. This is all
to do with the inclusion of air
bags in riding jackets and suits.
Ralf Jodl’s German scooter parts,
accessory and tuning specialist SIP
Scootershop is to stage its popular
annual open house on Saturday,
May 5th.
Even though it saw sales dip by
-1.3% in 2017, BMW Motorrad’s
U.S. sales of 13,546 units in
2017 comfortably beat the
domestic U.S. trend which saw
motorcycle sales decline by -
3.2% in 2017, with December
actually showing a +37.3%
increase over December 2016 at
1,270 units, finishing the year
with four consecutive months of
growth. BMW has 153 dealers in
the United States.
Parts Europe has announced a
partnership with the 2018 Judd
British Youth National Championship
– the official ACU British
Championship “for the very best
junior MX riders in the UK”.
Mahindra, the Indian
conglomerate that owns a 51%
stake in Peugeot Scooters and
recently acquired ownership of
the BSA and JAWA brands, has
opened a new North American
HQ and manufacturing
operation at Detroit. The
(initial?) plan is to build ROXOR
branded off highway vehicles
there.
Indian manufacturer Royal Enfield
posted worldwide sales of +16% for
December 2017 at 66,968 units. For
the period April to December 2017
sales were up +21% at 593,450
units. Their two new 650cc parallel
twins are slated for sale in Europe
from April 2018.
Triumph has announced a
diversification with a limited
edition run of 500 high-
specification all-terrain bicycles
– the Triumph XCX.
Starting this season, it is mandatory
for GP riders (Moto3, Moto2 and
MotoGP) to wear an approved airbag
system within their leather
racing suits.
10
INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS
With its third quarter fiscals Piaggio
says it has “confirmed its leadership of
the European two-wheeler market”
with a 15.2% overall share and 25.4
percent share of the scooter sector.
At 30 September 2017, the Group sold
299,400 two-wheelers worldwide, up
+12.4% (266,400 at 30 September
2016), generating net sales of 771.8
million euro, an improvement of
+5.7% (730 million euro at 30
September 2016).
The figure includes spares and
accessories, on which turnover totalled
101.3 million euro, an increase of +4%
from the first nine months of 2016.
The Group says it maintained a
particularly strong presence on the
North American scooter market, with a
share of 20%; it is also committed to
strengthening its position in
motorcycles in North America. On the
Indian two-wheeler market, the Group
more than doubled its sales volumes
from the year-earlier period, thanks to
the introduction of the new Aprilia SR
150 scooter and the excellent
performance of Vespa.
In Asia Pacific terms, Vietnam reported
a decline in scooter sales volumes,
while the Group expanded its offer in
Thailand through its recent entry onto
the motorcycle market with the
introduction of the Aprilia and Moto
Guzzi brands, flanking the already well-
established scooter offer with the
Vespa and Piaggio brands.
Highlights in the scooter sector
included excellent results of the Vespa
brand, which boosted worldwide sales
by +11.4% in respect of to the first
nine months of the last year. In Europe
sales were up by +16.5%; in India,
where the new (Vespa) Red VXL model
has been introduced, sales revenue
was +31.3%.
Performance was also positive in high-
wheel scooters (growth in volume of
+6.4%), where the Group reported
revenue growth at global level, largely
thanks to the new Liberty and to the
Beverly.
In the scooter sector, the Aprilia brand
also saw positive results, especially on
the Indian market, thanks to the Aprilia
SR 150 sports scooter.
The motorcycle sector of the Group also
made “great strides”. The Aprilia brand
saw an increase in sales, in particular
generated by the naked Tuono, the new
Aprilia Shiver 900 and Dorsoduro 900
(launched in June 2017), and the new
125cc, RS and Tuono, launched in April.
The revenue at Moto Guzzi was
particularly driven by the positive sales
trend of the V7, whose fiftieth
anniversary this year has been marked
with an ad hoc model.
Overall Group EBIT at 30 September
2017 was 69.1 million euro, an
increase of 14.3% (60.5 million euro at
30 September 2016), EBIT margin was
6.5% (5.9% at 30 September 2016),
pre-tax profits were 44.1 million euro,
up +31.2%; the Group made a net
profit of 25.1 million euro (+31.2%)
and sold a total of 426,700 vehicles
worldwide (411,700 in the first nine
months of 2016).
NEXX Helmets, Portugal,
suffers factory fire
Portuguese helmet
manufacturer NEXX has had a
fire (January 20) at the fibre and
carbon production unit of its
factory in Anadia, Portugal.
At the time of the incident (a
Saturday) this part of their
facility was not working, so
there have been “no injuries or
damages to third parties,” the
company says.
Helder Loureiro, founder and
CEO of the company, says: “We
would like to express our
gratitude for the solidarity and
encouragement we have
received locally and
internationally. We deeply
Pavilion 3 before the fire, a further
three pavilions were not affected
regret the impact this fire has
caused to our employees,
clients, partners, area residents
and other companies in the
area. The i ncident is being
investigated and we are
working with local authorities
in every possible way to clarify
what has happened.
“We would like to thank all our
employees, customers and third
parties for their support
messages and to let everyone
know that none of the 160 jobs
are at risk. We can guarantee
that NEXX will recover quickly
from this situation and continue
our growth. Production will be
Helder Loureiro, founder and CEO:
“We deeply regret the impact this
fire has caused on our employees,
clients, partners, area residents and
other companies in the area”
affected in the short term, but
we expect that within a month
the situation will begin to
stabilise.
“The company activated its
disaster contingency plan on
the same day, to restore its
activities and meet its
commitments, and we already
resumed business, as near
normal as possible, effective
Monday January 22nd. Many
operations are unaffected, so
we can continue with much of
what we do.”
www.nexx-helmets.com