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BMW Motorrad USA Posts Strong 2014 Sales Figures

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BMW Motorrad USA has finished the books on 2014, and the American subsidiary is able to report one of its best sales years in the past decade. Up 5.4% over 2013’s sales figures, BMW Motorrad USA saw strong sales from is S-Series of bikes (S1000RR and S1000R), which were up 80% with 254 units.

The R-Series was another strong performer, up 17% with 477 units sold. The 2014 BMW R1200RT was BMW Motorrad USA’s best-selling motorcycle as well, despite the tourer’s suspension issues, which kept the bikes sidelined for several months.

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News

MV Agusta Gets €15 Million Loan for New Business Plan

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Good turns for MV Agusta, as the Italian motorcycle manufacturer has secured a €15 million loan from SACE and Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM).

The loan, which was issued by BPM and guaranteed by SACE, will go towards MV Agusta’s foreign growth plans, namely the company’s strengthening of its US business, and its push into Brazil and Southeast Asia.

The more business-speak version of that statement is that MV Agusta will use the €15 million to implement the company’s 2014-2018 business plan, which has the company expanding its product range and penetrating into “high-potential” markets.

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Columns

Editor’s Blog: A Last Lingering Thought for 2014

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It will be a new year soon, and for some of Asphalt & Rubber‘s more international readers, New Year’s Eve may have already given way to New Year’s Day (Happy New Year, if that’s already the case).

Going through my various feeds, it seems obligatory that we make some sort of Happy New Year proclamation, summarize the stories the site has covered, and share some insight on the inner-workings of our operation here at A&R. The Dude abides, but bear with me first.

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News

KTM’s Austrian Factory Hits 100,000+ Bikes for 2014

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KTM has been the highest volume producing European motorcycle company for the past two years running, and zie Austrians are looking to make that a trend in 2014.

As such, the Austrian brand will has some stiff competition this year, seeing as BMW Motorrad already broke last year’s sales figure in the first 11 months of this year — an impressive feat, to be certain.

KTM has the advantage of dabbling in small-displacement machines, with KTM-branded bike coming out of India, courtesy of its minority owner Bajaj. The Indian market has been a larger contributor to KTM’s sales success, but things have been growing in Austria as well.

Announcing that the company’s Mattighofen factory reach 100,000 units this year, for the first time ever, KTM is already celebrating some sales success.

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News

Ducati Produces Its One Millionth Motorcycle

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Ducati is celebrating a milestone this week, as the Italian company has produced its one millionth motorcycle — a Ducati Monster 1200 S. The number might be a far cry from Honda’s recent 300 millionth motorcycle milestone, though admittedly the Japanese has made the bulk of that volume in the small-displacement categories.

Nonetheless, the special Monster was handed over directly by Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali to it new owner, 47-year-old Ernesto Passoni — a Ducatista from the Milan area — at an event in the Audi City Lab in Milan (a temporary showroom setup for the Christmas period in the Milan city center).

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News

Horex Closes Down Operations, Lays Off Staff

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It’s been a rough year for German manufacturer Horex, especially after the company declared bankruptcy this September. With no new investors in sight, Horex has had no choice but to close it doors, and layoff its staff, including management.

The Horex project had a rough start, and was fraught with production delays and key design changes. Posting to the company’s Facebook page today (translated into English after the jump), it would seem barring a miracle, this is the end of the Horex brand’s rebirth.

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News

KTM Plans New Smaller V-Twin Engines, Husqvarna Too

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A quick look at KTM’s recent additions to its model lineup sees significant attention being given to the company’s large and small-displacement machines, yet the middleweight bikes have remained seemingly untouched.

That seems set to change, according to an interview MCN had with KTM CEO Stefan Pierer.

Saying that KTM would develop new v-twin engines in the 600cc to 800cc range over the next three years, the Austrian company seems set to its entire lineup revamped within the next few years.

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News

Ducati Scrambler Begins Production in Italy

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Production of the Ducati Scrambler began today in Borgo Panigale, marking the rebirth of the model in Ducati’s lineup and the start of Bologna’s new “Scrambler Ducati” brand and line.

As we reported earlier this year, the Scramblers produced at Borgo Panigale will not be arriving in the North American markets, which will instead receive models made by Ducati’s Thailand factory (no word on when that production will begin, if it hasn’t already).

Production strategies aside, the Ducati Scrambler marks many changes for the Italian company, which has been abashed in its pursuit of younger, let’s say more hip, motorcyclists with the Ducati Scrambler line.

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News

Honda Motor Co. Produces Its 300 Millionth Motorcycle

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Hosting a ceremony today in Tokyo, Honda Motor Company announced that it has produced cumulatively 300 million motorcycles worldwide.

The milestone, which was actually reach in September of this year, but just now celebrated by the Japanese company, comes in Honda’s 66th year of making motorcycles, when the brand entered the market with the Honda Dream Type-D in 1949.

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Opinion/Editorial

Editor’s Blog: Just Say Yes

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It seems like we hardly talk anymore, you and I. Sure, every day I and the rest of the Asphalt & Rubber crew bring you stories to help fuel your motolust, but aside from the snarky messages I leave in the comments section, we haven’t really been getting enough “us time”, so to speak.

I want to change that, at least intermittently, on these doldrum Sundays, with a column that really has nothing to do with motorcycles…at least not directly.

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now this year, but I just didn’t get around to starting because either I thought I was too busy, or I didn’t have a subject at-hand to explore, or I dunno…derringers.

Now as I begin planning what’s ahead for A&R in 2015, I see the same problem occurring: projects have long languished on my to-do list, and I keep saying “yeah, we should do that…” with no results in sight.

The issue is one of impulse, that moment of force that pulls you from the warm spot on the couch and back to the Bat Cave again. The issue is one of “saying yes”, ideally with reckless abandon.

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MotoGP

Money: Motorcycle Racing’s Biggest Problem

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What is the biggest problem in motorcycle racing today? Is it the predominant role electronics are playing, ruining the racing? Is it the ever more restrictive rules imposed, killing bike development and the spirit of Grand Prix racing?

Is it the lack of competitive machinery, making it impossible for anyone but a factory rider to win a race? Or is it the dominance of the two top manufacturers, driving costs up and discouraging wider manufacturer participation?

You can point to all of those and more as being an issue, but they pale in comparison to the real problem the sport of motorcycle racing faces at the moment: Money.

Specifically, the lack of it, and the inability of almost everyone involved in the sport to find ways of raising any. All of the ills of both MotoGP and World Superbikes can be traced back to this single failure.

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