International Dealer News IDN 146 December 2018 / January 2019 | Page 64

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NEWS
BRIEFS
Tenneco Inc. has announced
agreement to buy a majority share in
Öhlins Racing AB, becoming a
subsidiary of the U.S. giant - owner of
Monroe (automotive) shock absorbers
and former owner of Marzocchi. Earlier
this year it was announced that
Tenneco had bought Federal Mogul,
the owner of Ferodo brake pads and
Champion filters for $5.4bn. Founded
by Kenth Öhlin in 1976, Yamaha Japan
bought a majority stake in 1987, with
Kenth buying back 95% of the
business in 2007 - he will continue to
be part of Öhlins, serving on the board,
and retains a minority interest in the
company. It is thought that Henrik
Johansson will continue as CEO.
BMW Motorrad’s worldwide sales
were down by -0.8% (126,793
units) for the first 9 months of
2018; September sales were
+0.2% (14,124 units).
Giovanni Castiglioni has been ousted
as MV Agusta chairman and CEO, with
Russian oligarch’s son Timur Sardarov
taking the reins following an additional
£35m capital injection by ComSar
Invest and its parent Black Ocean
Group - the private equity investment
vehicle operated by multi-billionaire oil
and gas magnate Rashid Sardarov.
Castiglioni has been appointed as
company president.
Italian motorcycle and scooter
brand Malaguti was relaunched at
EICMA by the Austrian KSR Group,
saying it will “offer a full range of
dynamic and reliable motorcycles
and scooters for a young, urban
audience”, starting with water-
cooled Aprilia 125 cc engines.
Malaguti was founded in 1930 by
Antonino Malaguti, with
production finishing in 2011. KSR
is making a habit of acquiring and
re-launching moribund brands -
most famously Lambretta.
64
Post-License European
Training Quality Label Awards
for KTM and Honda
The European Association of
Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM)
backed European Training Quality
Label (ETQL) Awards programme
continues to pick up momentum with
two of KTM’s Riders Academy training
programmes and The Advanced
Motorcycling Course at the Honda
Safety Institute (HSI), near Barcelona,
achieving accreditation recently.
The awards were granted after a site
visit and inspections by safety experts
from the German Road Safety Council
(DVR), a German NGO active in the
field of road safety.
The Academy, which was launched in
2018, provides courses that build on
the latest empirical research on rider
behaviour and training, as well as the
experience of Klaus Schwabe, one of
the leading German experts in
motorcycle safety.
Training sessions are conducted in
small groups of no more than six riders
per trainer and are open to
motorcyclists using any brand of bike.
The KTM Riders Academy plans to
organise between 40 and 50 training
sessions in Austria and Germany,
involving about 300 motorcyclists.
Commenting on the ETQL award,
Stefan Pierer, President of KTM AG and
current President of Brussels based
ACEM, said: “I am delighted that the
two KTM Riders Academy motorcycle
training programmes have received
this important recognition at the
European level. Training at our
Academy aims to improve both the
cognitive and the motor skills of the
motorcyclist, increasing both safety
and the pleasure of riding.”
Antonio Perlot, Secretary General of
the European Association of
Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM),
INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - DECEMBER 2018 / JANUARY 2019
said: “The European Training Quality
Label is granted to the best post-
license training programmes in
Europe. It is one of the main elements
of the motorcycle industry’s safety
strategy, and we are confident that this
initiative will help motorcyclists to
easily identify the best training.”
The EMTQL is a voluntary certification
scheme that recognises the best post-
license training programmes delivered
in Europe. Launched by ACEM in 2015,
the scheme helps motorcyclists to
clearly and easily identify high quality
post-license training programmes. The
label is open to a wide range of
organisations based in Europe,
including training schools, motorcycle
manufacturers and public bodies.
To date, a total of 27 post-license
motorcycle training programmes have
been certified in Spain, France, the
Netherlands, Austria and Germany.
The HSI was created in 2009 and has
20,000 square meters of tracks and
facilities, designed exclusively to train
From left to right: Víctor Zaragoza
Faig, coordinator of the Honda
Safety Institute; Marc Serruya,
Branch President at Honda Motor
Europe Iberia; Albert Cavero, PR &
Motorcycle Safety Promotion
Manager at Honda Motor Europe
Iberia
motorcycle users - it is the largest
facility of its type in Europe. More than
20,000 motorcyclists have been
trained at the HSI since it opened in
2009. In 2017 alone, about 3,000
people were trained by Honda at this
facility.
From left to right: Christoph Schipper, Managing Director of KTM Austria;
Norbert Zaha, Managing Director of KTM Germany; Stefan Pierer, CEO of
KTM AG and President of ACEM; Klaus Schwabe, motorcycle training expert
(KTM Rider Academy); Christoph Doppler, motorcycle training expert (KTM
Rider Academy)
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