BMW Motorrad continues to post improved sales in 2011, as the German manufactuer is showing a 2.1% increase for last month’s sales compared to June 2010. Selling 11,831 motorcycles in June of this year, BMW has sold 141,913 motorcycles in the first half of 2011, which means 6.3% more Bavarian motorcycles have been sold in Q1 & Q2 of 2011 compared to last year. BMW’s Boxer series is unsurprisingly leading sales for the company, fueled by the best selling big-displacement motorcycle in the world: the R1200GS.
BMW is reporting strong sales from the K1600 series as well though, with 1,255 units sold since its Spring 2011 debut. While BMW says that the new six-cylinder tourer is exceeding expectations, Husqvarna’s paltry 450 units sold last month is perhaps a bit of disappointment. Husky sales were down -57.3% for June, while year-to-date sales were down -24.2% with only 3,530 units sold in the first half of 2011.
BMW’s overall positive sales numbers have been a beacon of light in the economic turndown, as the German company has weathered the recession better than many of its competitors. The marginal improvement in BMW’s June sales though bring up some interesting concerns thoguh. It is only natural that the company’s earlier success would be hard to maintain (you can only debut so many BMW S1000RR’s), and posting single-digit growth figures for the YTD could be a result of the hype around BMW’s new models waning.
However, it is also possible that with sales up just barely more than 2% last month, the economic rebound in the motorcycle industry is looking more flat than was previously expected. Any month where there is sales growth is a good month, but BMW’s YTD growth has slowly been dropping as 2011 marches on, leaving one to wonder if the Bavarians are riding the downhill backside of an earlier sales wave that was created with the S1000RR and K1600 motorcycles. Once is a chance. Twice is a coincidence. Three times, well that’s a trend. As always, time will tell.
Source: BMW Motorrad
Comments