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Triumph Unit Sales Up 9% in April – Will Enter New Motorcycle Market Segments by 2012

By Jensen Beeler 05/17/2010 10 Comments

The motorcycle industry continues to thaw after its deep freeze during the recession, and a part of that warming effect comes from Triumph Motorcycles, who reported a 9% increase in unit sales in the United States for April 2010 when compared to April 2009. “It’s feels good to see consistent growth, and we’re optimistic about the future” said Mark Kennedy, President and CEO of Triumph Motorcycles North America. Continuing, Kennedy said, “…the U.S. economy is showing signs that indicate we should have a good year.” Part of the growth Kennedy is referencing to is of course having more customers purchase models from the existing model line-up, but Triumph also has its eye on new segments as well. More on that after the jump.

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Piaggio Group Sales Up 11% in Q1 2010

By Jensen Beeler 04/30/2010 2 Comments

The Piaggio Group is reporting an 11.2% increase in its first quarter 2010 sales across its motorcycle and scooter subsidiaries compared to last year’s numbers. The group netted €2.9 million for Q1, which is noticable increase from its €4.7 million loss in Q1 of 2009. For motorcycle sales alone, the company saw a 12.4% increase unit sales, with the European market leading the charge.

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S1000RR Puts BMW in the Black for February

By Jensen Beeler 03/16/2010 8 Comments

While the US motorcycle market posted a 36% decline last month compared to a year ago, BMW was busy posting up some impressive numbers. The German company is reporting its February 2010 sales numbers are up 52% compared to February 2009. The main reason for the surge: the 2010 BMW S1000RR superbike, which would make BMW’s gamble of competing head-to-head with the Japanese Four a venerable victory. More after the jump.

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Dainese No Longer “Made in Italy” – Moves Remaining Italian Production to Tunisia

By Jensen Beeler 01/19/2010 10 Comments

Italian apparel manufacturer Dainese, (who also owns Mavet and AGV) is shutting down its Molvena, Italy plant, and moving the bulk of its production to Tunisia. The move is presumably to help lower costs to the Italian brand, as sales have slumpped during the industry-wide economic slowdown. It’s unclear whether Dainese will open a new factory in Tunisia, or add the capacity to one of its two factories already in the North African country.

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Honda Motors Profits Down 56%, Motorcycles Only Down 17% – Expects Profit in First Half of 2009

By Jensen Beeler 11/05/2009 2 Comments

Honda has released its second quarter financials, with the highlight (if you can call it that) being a 56.2% drop in their net income. Honda attributes this loss primarily to decreased car sales, and the currency exchange. For its part though, Honda’s motorcycle sales were down only 16.8%, with 2.4 million units sold during Q2.

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Banter

SOLD: It’s A Buyer’s Market – $4,225 MV Agusta Brutale [UPDATED]

By Jensen Beeler 11/04/2009 6 Comments

UPDATE: The bike has now been sold.

We don’t usually post up bikes for sale, but this one seemed like too much of a bargain not to comment on, and in a way it speaks to the current state of the used motorcycle market. A 2004 salvage title MV Agusta Brutale for $4,225, it sounds like one of those bad eBay scams, but reading through this thread on ADVrider, the deal seems not only legit, but also some buyer’s lucky day.

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Yamaha Motors President Out After $2 Billion Loss

By Jensen Beeler 11/04/2009 4 Comments

At this point it’s abundantly clear how hard the recession has hit the motorcycle industry, so it doesn’t come with too much surprise that some management types are having to take the fall for the down-turn in profits. For Yamaha Motors President, Takashi Kajikawa, the only silver-lining to the situation is that this isn’t feudal Japan, and no one is offering him a sword to fall on. Unfortunately though, Kajikawa will still have to resign from his position as company President, as Yamaha Motors prepares for a $2 billion loss.

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Metric Motorcycle Sales Still Slipping

By Jensen Beeler 08/05/2009 2 Comments

It’s doom and gloom today. The motorcycle industry continues to be slogged on the nose like a near-sighted proctologist, as exports from metric manufacturers declined by 65% this June from 2008’s figures. This drop comes after May only showed a 58% loss over last year’s numbers, showing an escalation of the problems for the motorcycle industry, instead of the beginnings of an abatement. For those who aren’t keeping score, 2009 so far has sold 25% less units than 2008, with the crunch hitting the hardest as sales normally would pick up during the summer.

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Benelli to Go Under?

By Jensen Beeler 06/04/2009 5 Comments

While Ducati is recording , times are significantly tighter at Benelli, that other Italian motorcycle manufacturer. With many of its workers on part-time status (and with the Government paying part of their paycheck), production at the Benelli factory has been scaled back to around 1,000 motorcycles for 2009, down from the 20,000 the company had anticipated to make when it set it goals back in 2007.

This year, Chinese owner, Qiang Jiang, is taking a closer look at the Italian acquistion, with the possibility of folding the company not ruled out. This just a few months after Qiang Jiang pumped $26 million into the Italian brand.

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Yamaha Follows Other Japanese Manufacturers in Reported Sales Drops

By Jensen Beeler 05/15/2009 No Comments

Our day wouldn’t complete if we didn’t bring you gloom from all four of the Japanese manufacturers; and yes, even Yamaha wasn’t spared the wraith of the global economic slowdown. Yamaha Motor Corporation is reporting double-digit percentage sales drops in its two-wheeled and four-wheeled retail sales.

Yamaha said its U.S. motorcycle retail sales of 21,000 units is a 30% dip from last year’s numbers. Similarly, its U.S. ATV retail sales fell 26% to 17,000 units. This number is at least better than the ATV industry average of a 33% sales decrease. Overall for its worldwide operations, Yamaha reported a sales decline of 35.5% from the year-ago quarter, and a net loss of $189 million for its first quarter, which ended March 31.

Source: PowerSports Business

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Suzuki Watches North American Sales Plummet

By Jensen Beeler 05/15/2009 4 Comments

Suzuki Motor Corporation is reporting its 3rd quarter in a row of sales dropping in its European and North American markets. In North America, the company sold 88,000 units, weighing in at a 34% reduction from last year’s numbers. Suzuki fared better in Europe where it sold 114,000 units, or a a 24% decrease from last year. Yes the bleeding continues, but at least .

Source: PowerSports Business

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