DarthRider
03-14-2006, 01:41 PM
Lots of interesting things going on...
Arctic Cat Pairs With Piaggio
Cross-Cultural Collaboration
On March 6, Arctic Cat announced to its assembled dealer body gathered in Yellowstone to see the latest sleds that they were partnering with Piaggio. Perhaps best known as the parent company to Vespa scooters, in recent years Piaggio has also picked up a host of Italian motorcycle brands including the Aprilia, Derbi, Gilera and Moto Guzzi marques, and apparently Cat dealers will be selling these motorcycles and scooters alongside their self-branded sleds and ATVs. "Both companies will share access to their dealer networks in North America and in Europe: Arctic Cat will be able to sell its ATV products through selected Piaggio Group dealers in Europe, and the Piaggio Group will sell its motorcycles and motorscooters through select Arctic Cat North American dealers," according to the official statement given to the dealers. "We're excited about the potential of this strategic partnership to extend our international distribution capabilities and open new channels for growth," said Cat CEO Christopher Twomey. "We anticipate that this agreement will enhance the competitive positions of both companies internationally, providing tangible benefits to our customers, dealers and shareholders." Meanwhile, Piaggio Group dealers gathered in Monte Carlo were getting the word translated to them. "The Piaggio Group is currently pursuing a number of initiatives to further strengthen its global presence, particularly in North America," explained Piaggio CEO Rocco Sabelli. "Within this context, we are very pleased to announce this new partnership with Arctic Cat." Both parties suggested their dealers look to this initial letter of intent to, "potentially lead to other areas of future collaboration, such as product development and manufacturing." Stay tuned, this is gonna get interesting.
Facts Not Friction
The China Syndrome Unveiled
One look at all the exporters congregated in the Chinese Pavilion at the Dealer Expo in Indy proved that a new group of OEMs are sizing up the market. But how do you tell who the real players in the Chinese market without a scorecard? The folks at Research And Markets Ltd. have produced the China Sourcing Report: Motorcycles 2006 — a comprehensive 150-page run down of who's who over there. "China continues to lead the global motorcycle industry, producing an estimated 50% of the world's two-wheelers," according to the preface. "Exports during the January to October 2005 timeframe amounted to $1.4 billion, a 47% percent increase from international shipments in the same period of the previous year." The report also notes there are roughly 200 OEMs in China. About 70% are locally owned, 28% are foreign-invested or joint ventures and the rest are state-owned. If you are tired of being left in the dark when it comes to the influx of ATVs, scooters and small-displacement motorcycles currently flooding the market, then maybe this report is for you? But beware, knowledge doesn't come cheap. Priced at 476 Euros (roughly $700), this is no dime-store novel! However, if money is no object, click onto www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c31722/ for ordering info.
Save The Date
Red Bull's Last Man Standing extreme enduro competition is returning on December 1-2, 2006. "This is one of the toughest races I've ridden," said 2005 World Enduro Champ David Knight immediately after winning the inaugural Last Man Standing last November (which MPN covered in February's Indy Show issue). "This race ranks up there with the best of them." When the dust finally settled, only 14 of the world's best riders had managed to finish all four stages. "I guess I made it too easy," jokes event innovator Josh Whitaker. "It will be even better this time." Tons of TV coverage, not to mention a DVD based on the event, paid plenty of promotional dividends for both Red Bull and the sport of motorcycling in general the first go round — so much so that Red Bull has already upped its deal to include three rounds. If you can't wait until December, go to www.redbulllastmanstanding.com.
(Note from Dave: Last Man Standing promoter Josh Whitakar is now working with us, Tucker Rocky Dist. as Off-Road Segment Mgr. He's a great guy!)
KTM Counters With Polaris
Within hours of the Arctic Cat/Piaggio deal being announced, the PR people at Polaris fired back with a reminder that they had partnered with KTM back in July of 2005 and confirmed that KTM would indeed be serving as their German distributor. "KTM has established a dedicated sales force to manage the Polaris brand and product sales," said KTM VP of marketing and sales Hubert Trunkenpolz. "KTM will leverage our back office operations in Germany to increase sales, build the Polaris brand, and increase dealer service and satisfaction while minimizing distribution costs." Polaris International Operations/Victory VP Mark Blackwell added, "Polaris is excited to leverage KTM's strong presence and understanding of the German Powersports market. Polaris dealers in Germany will sign a separate Polaris dealer contract with KTM and be managed by a separate sales force dedicated to the Polaris product line." However, KTM is not expected to become the distributor of Polaris products in any other European market, at least not in the immediate future. "We want to focus our joint cooperative distribution effort on this key market to ensure success and demonstrate the compatibility of our product lines, brand positioning and dealer networks," claims Blackwell.
Ducati Doing Well...
At least In The U.S.
Ducati North America followed up last year's record setting sales performance of more than 7,000 units with the company's best January numbers ever, posting an 80% sales increase for the month. The strong sales numbers generated by Ducati North America are a bright spot for the troubled global motorcycle manufacturer, but North American CEO Michael Lock sees light at the end of the tunnel. "The 999R introduction showed that Ducati is and always will be about crafting high-performance racing bikes," says Lock. "But Ducati is also proving we can build our Monster lineup with the successes of the S2R, S2R1000 and the upcoming Monster S4Rs. We're really enjoying the momentum we've experienced early this year from these bikes and our popular SportClassics. There's no doubt 2006 will be a year to remember here at Ducati North America." While things are rolling right along on the U.S. sales front, the sale of the company is proceeding according to plan leading up to the appointment of a new board of directors in March as this issue goes to press. U.S.-based Texas Pacific Group is transferring 30% less one share (not counting treasury shares) at Euro 0.85 per share to InvestIndustrial Holding S.A. while several other Italian-based banks have extended credit. UniCredit Banca Mobiliare cleared an 80 million Euro stock deal; UniCredit Banca d'Impresa, granted Ducati a new 35 million Euro credit line, and negotiations are reportedly continuing with other banks for a further 25 million Euro financing.
The Honeymoon Is Over?
As of the Dealer Expo in Indy, it was pretty obvious that Oxtar had given the boot line to a new distributor. Former distributor Fairchild Sports announced its distribution agreement with Oxtar, "had been mutually terminated." In any case, Helmet House is now carrying the line of Italian footwear. Although Fairchild is no longer accepting Oxtar orders, they will continue to honor warranty claims for 12 months (through February 2007) on any Oxtar boots dealers purchased from them prior to Indy. Retail customers and those with questions regarding product orders should now call (800) 421-7247. According to Fairchild, the move comes as they are narrowing the company's focus to concentrate on its core brands and on its burgeoning OEM business. The company is still supplying Hein Gericke motorcycle gear, G-Line for Women and Held gloves. No word on what happened with the Vemar helmet distribution deal was forthcoming from Fairchild, however.
Foreign Correspondence
Pipe Down!
Interesting to note the U.S. exhaust market is seeking a quieter note these days — Euro standards have long been strict on the issue. The BOS team based in the Netherlands (not to be confused with the racing Bostrom brothers' new line of Boz pipes in the U.S.) pioneered removable dB eaters 10 years ago. This design has now been adopted by many of the leading exhaust manufacturers worldwide. Among the latest pipes from BOS is an aftermarket silencer for the best-selling Honda CBR1000 Fireblade that offers significant weight-saving and a racy exhaust note in an EU road-legal package. The new titanium slip-on silencer for the Honda Fireblade is manufactured from Grade Two titanium and weighs just 3.2 kilograms, a savings of 4 kilos compared with the OE system. Inside is a stainless steel inner tube wrapped in stainless steel wool and packed with pressure-resistant ceramic wool, offering excellent durability. The end cap is also titanium, and the wraps are stainless steel for a durable finish. The Fireblade titanium silencer retails for £325 including the VAT (approximately $590). Better yet, someone now carries these cans Stateside. Click on www.bos-exhausts.net for more details, or call BOS North America at (631) 254-3010.
Sounding Off On More Euro Pipes
Another Euro brand that is making a push into the U.S. marketplace is the French-based CRD outfit. You may remember their first appearance at the Dealer Expo in Indy last year? Their Absolute range for 2006 features brushed aluminum construction, a spark arrestor for the U.S. market and is for competition use on 4-stroke bikes like the Honda CRF450, Yamaha WRF/YZF450 and Suzuki RMZ-450 models. CRD also makes street-legal end cans, plus complete exhaust systems for a wide range of dual purpose, streetbikes and ATV machinery. There's more details at www.crdoffroad.com and Annitori Distribution handles their U.S. market operation — call the toll-free dealer hotline at (888) 963-1212. Speaking of Annitori and pipes, they are also the outfit that imports the Micron line of pipes from the U.K. — click on www.micronexhaust.com and be sure to check out their latest slip-on for the popular Suzuki SV-650.
What's In A Name?
Those Germans have a different word for everything. Say hello (or maybe that should be Guten tag?) to a competitor in Germany's "Miss Moped" title for 2006. She goes by the name of Rebecca Fahrt. Any suggestion that she was blown out of the competition early on is entirely untrue. Actually, Fahrt means "to go" auf Deutsche rather than to pass gas … the word for that I believe is "carburetor". In keeping with this issue's look at high performance pipes interestingly "exhaust pipe" translates to Auspuff in German! This may be the April fool's issue, but I'm not making this stuff up! Get a German-English dictionary and look it up for yourself. Aufweidersehen.
Sales Snippets
Czech please! 2005 was a good year for motorcycle sales in the Czech Republic, arguably the most prosperous of the former Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe. New unit sales stood at 15,625 last year, up about 5,000 units from the 2004 tally, or about a 100% increase. Honda was the market leading brand, closely followed by several Chinese OEMs, all selling sub-125cc bikes/scooters. Approximately 9,000 more used machines were purchased in the Czech Republic in this past year as well.
Motorcycle sales suffered a slight 2.5% drop in Austria during 2005, reports the local importer association. A total of 10,964 new units above 125cc were sold, with Honda being the best selling brand. But Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki all lost market share in Austria last year, with BMW, KTM, Triumph and Ducati all seeing rises in sales and market share. In fact, local OEM KTM was up 55% year-on-year. Harley-Davidson sold 399 units, down from 402 in 2004, whilst just 96 people bought a new Buell in Austria last year.
French folly: French OEM Voxan isn't expected to be a major player in 2006, after laying off a substantial part of its workforce in December. The latest prediction from Voxan is that they will sell a few hundred units in France.
(Note from Dave: This stems from problems with their proprietary transmission design with 0 speeds foward and 6 reverse; also their only running prototype met disaster recently when the white-flag holder became entangled in test rider "Lucky" Pierre Johnson's lace bloomers, causing a major wreck.)
Arctic Cat Pairs With Piaggio
Cross-Cultural Collaboration
On March 6, Arctic Cat announced to its assembled dealer body gathered in Yellowstone to see the latest sleds that they were partnering with Piaggio. Perhaps best known as the parent company to Vespa scooters, in recent years Piaggio has also picked up a host of Italian motorcycle brands including the Aprilia, Derbi, Gilera and Moto Guzzi marques, and apparently Cat dealers will be selling these motorcycles and scooters alongside their self-branded sleds and ATVs. "Both companies will share access to their dealer networks in North America and in Europe: Arctic Cat will be able to sell its ATV products through selected Piaggio Group dealers in Europe, and the Piaggio Group will sell its motorcycles and motorscooters through select Arctic Cat North American dealers," according to the official statement given to the dealers. "We're excited about the potential of this strategic partnership to extend our international distribution capabilities and open new channels for growth," said Cat CEO Christopher Twomey. "We anticipate that this agreement will enhance the competitive positions of both companies internationally, providing tangible benefits to our customers, dealers and shareholders." Meanwhile, Piaggio Group dealers gathered in Monte Carlo were getting the word translated to them. "The Piaggio Group is currently pursuing a number of initiatives to further strengthen its global presence, particularly in North America," explained Piaggio CEO Rocco Sabelli. "Within this context, we are very pleased to announce this new partnership with Arctic Cat." Both parties suggested their dealers look to this initial letter of intent to, "potentially lead to other areas of future collaboration, such as product development and manufacturing." Stay tuned, this is gonna get interesting.
Facts Not Friction
The China Syndrome Unveiled
One look at all the exporters congregated in the Chinese Pavilion at the Dealer Expo in Indy proved that a new group of OEMs are sizing up the market. But how do you tell who the real players in the Chinese market without a scorecard? The folks at Research And Markets Ltd. have produced the China Sourcing Report: Motorcycles 2006 — a comprehensive 150-page run down of who's who over there. "China continues to lead the global motorcycle industry, producing an estimated 50% of the world's two-wheelers," according to the preface. "Exports during the January to October 2005 timeframe amounted to $1.4 billion, a 47% percent increase from international shipments in the same period of the previous year." The report also notes there are roughly 200 OEMs in China. About 70% are locally owned, 28% are foreign-invested or joint ventures and the rest are state-owned. If you are tired of being left in the dark when it comes to the influx of ATVs, scooters and small-displacement motorcycles currently flooding the market, then maybe this report is for you? But beware, knowledge doesn't come cheap. Priced at 476 Euros (roughly $700), this is no dime-store novel! However, if money is no object, click onto www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c31722/ for ordering info.
Save The Date
Red Bull's Last Man Standing extreme enduro competition is returning on December 1-2, 2006. "This is one of the toughest races I've ridden," said 2005 World Enduro Champ David Knight immediately after winning the inaugural Last Man Standing last November (which MPN covered in February's Indy Show issue). "This race ranks up there with the best of them." When the dust finally settled, only 14 of the world's best riders had managed to finish all four stages. "I guess I made it too easy," jokes event innovator Josh Whitaker. "It will be even better this time." Tons of TV coverage, not to mention a DVD based on the event, paid plenty of promotional dividends for both Red Bull and the sport of motorcycling in general the first go round — so much so that Red Bull has already upped its deal to include three rounds. If you can't wait until December, go to www.redbulllastmanstanding.com.
(Note from Dave: Last Man Standing promoter Josh Whitakar is now working with us, Tucker Rocky Dist. as Off-Road Segment Mgr. He's a great guy!)
KTM Counters With Polaris
Within hours of the Arctic Cat/Piaggio deal being announced, the PR people at Polaris fired back with a reminder that they had partnered with KTM back in July of 2005 and confirmed that KTM would indeed be serving as their German distributor. "KTM has established a dedicated sales force to manage the Polaris brand and product sales," said KTM VP of marketing and sales Hubert Trunkenpolz. "KTM will leverage our back office operations in Germany to increase sales, build the Polaris brand, and increase dealer service and satisfaction while minimizing distribution costs." Polaris International Operations/Victory VP Mark Blackwell added, "Polaris is excited to leverage KTM's strong presence and understanding of the German Powersports market. Polaris dealers in Germany will sign a separate Polaris dealer contract with KTM and be managed by a separate sales force dedicated to the Polaris product line." However, KTM is not expected to become the distributor of Polaris products in any other European market, at least not in the immediate future. "We want to focus our joint cooperative distribution effort on this key market to ensure success and demonstrate the compatibility of our product lines, brand positioning and dealer networks," claims Blackwell.
Ducati Doing Well...
At least In The U.S.
Ducati North America followed up last year's record setting sales performance of more than 7,000 units with the company's best January numbers ever, posting an 80% sales increase for the month. The strong sales numbers generated by Ducati North America are a bright spot for the troubled global motorcycle manufacturer, but North American CEO Michael Lock sees light at the end of the tunnel. "The 999R introduction showed that Ducati is and always will be about crafting high-performance racing bikes," says Lock. "But Ducati is also proving we can build our Monster lineup with the successes of the S2R, S2R1000 and the upcoming Monster S4Rs. We're really enjoying the momentum we've experienced early this year from these bikes and our popular SportClassics. There's no doubt 2006 will be a year to remember here at Ducati North America." While things are rolling right along on the U.S. sales front, the sale of the company is proceeding according to plan leading up to the appointment of a new board of directors in March as this issue goes to press. U.S.-based Texas Pacific Group is transferring 30% less one share (not counting treasury shares) at Euro 0.85 per share to InvestIndustrial Holding S.A. while several other Italian-based banks have extended credit. UniCredit Banca Mobiliare cleared an 80 million Euro stock deal; UniCredit Banca d'Impresa, granted Ducati a new 35 million Euro credit line, and negotiations are reportedly continuing with other banks for a further 25 million Euro financing.
The Honeymoon Is Over?
As of the Dealer Expo in Indy, it was pretty obvious that Oxtar had given the boot line to a new distributor. Former distributor Fairchild Sports announced its distribution agreement with Oxtar, "had been mutually terminated." In any case, Helmet House is now carrying the line of Italian footwear. Although Fairchild is no longer accepting Oxtar orders, they will continue to honor warranty claims for 12 months (through February 2007) on any Oxtar boots dealers purchased from them prior to Indy. Retail customers and those with questions regarding product orders should now call (800) 421-7247. According to Fairchild, the move comes as they are narrowing the company's focus to concentrate on its core brands and on its burgeoning OEM business. The company is still supplying Hein Gericke motorcycle gear, G-Line for Women and Held gloves. No word on what happened with the Vemar helmet distribution deal was forthcoming from Fairchild, however.
Foreign Correspondence
Pipe Down!
Interesting to note the U.S. exhaust market is seeking a quieter note these days — Euro standards have long been strict on the issue. The BOS team based in the Netherlands (not to be confused with the racing Bostrom brothers' new line of Boz pipes in the U.S.) pioneered removable dB eaters 10 years ago. This design has now been adopted by many of the leading exhaust manufacturers worldwide. Among the latest pipes from BOS is an aftermarket silencer for the best-selling Honda CBR1000 Fireblade that offers significant weight-saving and a racy exhaust note in an EU road-legal package. The new titanium slip-on silencer for the Honda Fireblade is manufactured from Grade Two titanium and weighs just 3.2 kilograms, a savings of 4 kilos compared with the OE system. Inside is a stainless steel inner tube wrapped in stainless steel wool and packed with pressure-resistant ceramic wool, offering excellent durability. The end cap is also titanium, and the wraps are stainless steel for a durable finish. The Fireblade titanium silencer retails for £325 including the VAT (approximately $590). Better yet, someone now carries these cans Stateside. Click on www.bos-exhausts.net for more details, or call BOS North America at (631) 254-3010.
Sounding Off On More Euro Pipes
Another Euro brand that is making a push into the U.S. marketplace is the French-based CRD outfit. You may remember their first appearance at the Dealer Expo in Indy last year? Their Absolute range for 2006 features brushed aluminum construction, a spark arrestor for the U.S. market and is for competition use on 4-stroke bikes like the Honda CRF450, Yamaha WRF/YZF450 and Suzuki RMZ-450 models. CRD also makes street-legal end cans, plus complete exhaust systems for a wide range of dual purpose, streetbikes and ATV machinery. There's more details at www.crdoffroad.com and Annitori Distribution handles their U.S. market operation — call the toll-free dealer hotline at (888) 963-1212. Speaking of Annitori and pipes, they are also the outfit that imports the Micron line of pipes from the U.K. — click on www.micronexhaust.com and be sure to check out their latest slip-on for the popular Suzuki SV-650.
What's In A Name?
Those Germans have a different word for everything. Say hello (or maybe that should be Guten tag?) to a competitor in Germany's "Miss Moped" title for 2006. She goes by the name of Rebecca Fahrt. Any suggestion that she was blown out of the competition early on is entirely untrue. Actually, Fahrt means "to go" auf Deutsche rather than to pass gas … the word for that I believe is "carburetor". In keeping with this issue's look at high performance pipes interestingly "exhaust pipe" translates to Auspuff in German! This may be the April fool's issue, but I'm not making this stuff up! Get a German-English dictionary and look it up for yourself. Aufweidersehen.
Sales Snippets
Czech please! 2005 was a good year for motorcycle sales in the Czech Republic, arguably the most prosperous of the former Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe. New unit sales stood at 15,625 last year, up about 5,000 units from the 2004 tally, or about a 100% increase. Honda was the market leading brand, closely followed by several Chinese OEMs, all selling sub-125cc bikes/scooters. Approximately 9,000 more used machines were purchased in the Czech Republic in this past year as well.
Motorcycle sales suffered a slight 2.5% drop in Austria during 2005, reports the local importer association. A total of 10,964 new units above 125cc were sold, with Honda being the best selling brand. But Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki all lost market share in Austria last year, with BMW, KTM, Triumph and Ducati all seeing rises in sales and market share. In fact, local OEM KTM was up 55% year-on-year. Harley-Davidson sold 399 units, down from 402 in 2004, whilst just 96 people bought a new Buell in Austria last year.
French folly: French OEM Voxan isn't expected to be a major player in 2006, after laying off a substantial part of its workforce in December. The latest prediction from Voxan is that they will sell a few hundred units in France.
(Note from Dave: This stems from problems with their proprietary transmission design with 0 speeds foward and 6 reverse; also their only running prototype met disaster recently when the white-flag holder became entangled in test rider "Lucky" Pierre Johnson's lace bloomers, causing a major wreck.)