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US Motorcycle Industry Up 3.8% in 2014

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The Motorcycle Industry Council has tallied the numbers from 2014, and is happy to report that the US motorcycle industry grew 3.8% last year. Participating motorcycle manufacturers reported that 483,526 two-wheelers were sold in 2014, with growth across all sectors except in scooter sales.

The off-road segment sold particularly well, seeing an almost 11% gain over 2013’s numbers, with 81,013 units going thru dealership doors. Dual-sport sales were up 3.6% with 34,497 units sold, while on-road sales were up a modest 3%, for 334,488 units sold.

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Kenji Ekuan, Designer of the Yamaha VMAX Has Died

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Mainstream news is mourning the death of Kenji Ekuan today, as the 85-year-old Japanese industrial designer is one of the most influential artists in Japan’s modern era, and is most well-known for his designing of the iconic Kikkoman soy sauce bottle.

Ekuan’s lesser-known works though include a number of motorcycle designs for Yamaha, including the now 30-year-old Yamaha VMAX motorcycle, which makes his passing even more meaningful to motorcyclists around the world.

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Matt Levatich Named The New CEO of Harley-Davidson

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In a surprise press release late-today, Harley-Davidson announced that Matt Levatich will be taking over as the company’s CEO, starting May 1, 2015. Levatich will replace current CEO Keith Wandell, who took on his role in the company on May 1, 2009 — in the middle of the great economic recession.

The news is perhaps less shocking to industry insiders and analysts, who are familiar with the reasons behind Wandell’s tenure as CEO, and where Harley-Davidson stands today.

For sometime now we have been wondering when Harley-Davidson would initiate the next phase of its business plan, and whether Wandell would be a part of the company going forward.

As the symmetry of the tenure shows, today’s news is also a tip by Harley-Davidson that the swap in CEOs is due more to a new company direction than a reflection on performance.

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Husqvarna Sets All-Time Sales Record – 16,337 Motorcycles

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Just a year after being acquired by KTM CEO Stefan Pierer, Husqvarna Motorcycles posted an all-time sales record of 16,337 units. The tally is the most the Swedish brand has ever sold in its 111 year history, which is perhaps surprising considering the company’s tenuous history as of late.

With those record sales, Husqvarna also posted over €100 million in revenue, a key metric for the brand, as it struggles to grow into KTM’s more exclusive and upscale counterpart.

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KTM Sold 158,760 Motorcycles in 2014, A Record

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2014 is another banner year for KTM, as the Austrian brand set another all-time sales record, selling 158,760 to customers last year. That figure solidifies KTM’s position as the largest European brand, beating out BMW yet again, though Team Orange got a lot of help from its Indian operations with minority partner Bajaj.

This sales figure includes sales from Husqvarna, so a little cheating is going on, but Husky’s contribution to KTM’s 28.2% sales growth is marginal at best. With that boost in sales, KTM is also reporting a 20.7% increase in revenue (€864.6 million), taking home €75 million (EBIT).

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Yet Another Yearly Sales Record for BMW Motorrad

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We already know that BMW Motorrad broke last year’s sales record…in November, so it is no surprise then that we report that 2014 was another sales record for the Bavarian brand.

Selling 123,495 units last year in total, this means that BMW Motorrad is up another 7.2% in sales — strong and steady growth for the German company, with December selling 7,032 units (+10.9%).

“We can look back on a successful year. For the first time in company history, BMW Motorrad sold more than 120,000 vehicles,” said Stephan Schaller, President of BMW Motorrad

“This is an increase of 7.2% compared to the already outstanding result of the previous year and is the fourth year of record sales in a row. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all our customers for the trust they have placed in BMW Motorrad.”

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Polaris Acquires Electric Motorcycle Business from Brammo

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Polaris Industries has acquired the electric motorcycle business from Brammo, Inc. Polaris is also acting as a leading investor in the recapitalization of Brammo, which will enable Brammo to focus exclusively on the design, development, and integration of electric vehicle powertrains.

This means that Polaris will takeover building electric motorcycles at its Spirit Lake, IA production facility, and that Brammo will continue developing EV powertrains for Polaris and other OEM partners. According to its press release, Polaris will start production of electric motorcycles in the second half of 2015.

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Mercedes CEO: No Further Acquisition of MV Agusta

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Italians are rejoicing over the news that Mercedes-Benz CEO Dieter Zetsche has made it clear that the German car manufacturer is not interested in acquiring more of MV Agusta’s private stock.

Loyal readers will remember that Mercedes-AMG purchased 25% of MV Agusta last October, for a rumored €30 million — echoing the move Audi made in Ducati.

Talking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit though, Zetsche said “we had a past experience of cross-marketing with Ducati that was promising, but the company was acquired by Audi and the experiment ended.”

“We now have a new partnership with MV Agusta, a very prestigious brand,” the Mercedes CEO continued. “Again, we have established a cross-branding strategy between AMG and MV Agusta and we believe that the two brands are complementary. However, to avoid what happened with Ducati we point out that we have no intention to take over the business or produce motorcycles. MV Agusta can do it better than us.”

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Bikes

Alta Motors and Logos Technologies Win Second DARPA Award for a 2WD Hybrid-Electric Military Motorcycle

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Eight months ago, we told you about a special project that Alta Motors (formerly named BRD Motorcycles) was working on with Logos Technologies.

The project was a hybrid-electric two-wheel drive motorcycle that US special forces would use. Now called the SilentHawk, Logos Technologies has received a second DARPA award to continue development of this unique motorcycle with Alta Motors.

The Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from DARPA means that Logos and Alta motors can begin actually building the silent, yet easily refuelable, motorcycle to the weapons cache of the US military, which they proved in concept during Phase I.

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