Good news from Italian giant Piaggio, with an overall reduction of -4.9% in Group sales volumes of all vehicle types (including commercial vehicles), counterbalanced by the revenue growth achieved by the continuing shift in the product mix towards products with higher unit value per unit, in line with Piaggio Group’s "premium price policy" - notably with a 26.7% revenue increase in the motorcycle segment.
In 2015, the Group sold 322,500 two-wheelers in total worldwide (334,200 in 2014), generating net sales of 884.9 million euro, an improvement of 5.2% from 841 million euro in 2014.
In its two-wheeler business, the Piaggio Group reported revenue growth in all the main geographical areas where it operates, with turnover of 665.5 million euro in the EMEA and Americas areas (+5% from 2014), 196.2 million euro in Asia Pacific (+3.8%) and 23.2 million euro in India (+26.2%).
On the European two-wheeler market, the Piaggio Group "reconfirmed its absolute leadership”, closing 2015 with an overall market share of 15.2% and a 24.1% market share in scooters (approximately 11 percentage points ahead of its second European competitor).
The Group says it also maintained a "particularly strong positioning" in the North American scooter market, with a market share of more than 20%.
In the scooter sector, the Group reported higher net sales for the Vespa brand (+3.5% on 2014), for 2015 worldwide shipments of 166,000 scooters. Revenues also improved in motorcycles, with an overall increase of 26.7%.
The revenue improvement was 27.4% for the Moto Guzzi brand, thanks to the success of the key new products launched in the first half of 2015 -the V7 750 range (44% increase in sales volumes from 2014) and the California 1400 range (36% increase in sales volumes).
In 2015, Moto Guzzi shipped a total of 7,880 vehicles, for growth of 24% from 2014.
The Aprilia motorcycle brand reported revenue growth of 36% from 2014. The Aprilia
Supersports bikes with the V4 engine, assisted by the benefits of Aprilia's MotoGP and Superbike activities, and its victory in the 2015 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, generated strong growth in sales in 2015, with an improvement of 56% in sales volumes for the RSV4 range and 74% in sales volumes for the Tuono 1100 models.
In November 2015, Piaggio previewed a number of new products at EICMA, including the new Piaggio Medley high-wheel scooter, the new Piaggio Liberty generation, the special Vespa “Settantesimo” models in the PX, Primavera and GTS versions, as well as the Piaggio WiBike, the pedal-assisted bicycle in four different configurations, entirely developed and built by Piaggio in Italy.
Moto Guzzi presented the V9 range, a 'Bobber' style motorbike with large wheels and a "dark spirit"; the V9 Roamer, a "smart classic mid-range custom motorbike"; the V7 II Stornello 750, and the powerful 1400cc MGX-21 ‘Flying Fortress’.
To celebrate 54 world titles and its Superstock 1000 success, Aprilia unveiled the new Aprilia Racing Factory Works projects: custom racing bikes of up to 230 hp for professional riders, collectors and devotees.
In December 2015, the European Investment Bank and Piaggio signed a 70 million euro finance contract to fund Piaggio Group research and development projects at the Group’s Italian sites.
The seven year loan will support the development of innovative technological product and process solutions in active and passive safety, sustainability (including electric motors and reduction of fuel consumption in combustion engines) and customer satisfaction, based on research into new mobility concepts, new driver-vehicle interfaces, and communication and web access protocols.
In January 2016, Piaggio launched an updated Liberty. Originally introduced in 1997, the Piaggio Liberty has been a market best-seller with more than 900,000 scooters shipped in 18 years. The new Liberty features an air-cooled version of the new Piaggio iGet engines.
Financially the Piaggio Group closed 2015 with profit before tax of 20.1 million euro, compared with 26.5 million euro in 2014; and 11.9 million euro net profit, down from 16.1 million euro in 2014, mainly as a result of higher amortisation and depreciation expenses.
Net debt at 31 December 2015 was 498.1 million euro, an increase of approximately 5.3 million euro from 492.8 million euro at 31 December 2014. Group shareholders' equity at 31 December 2015 was 404.3 million euro (413.1 million euro at 31 December 2014).
Piaggio Group capital expenditure in 2015 amounted to 101.9 million euro (+7.4% from 94.9 million euro in 2014), of which 31.4 million euro were for R&D expenditure (31.8 million euro in 2014) and approximately 70.5 million euro for property, plant and equipment, investment property and intangible assets (63.1 million euro in 2014).
Among the investments in Group industrial assets, a particularly important project is the new automated paint shop nearing completion at the Piaggio industrial facility in Pontedera (Pisa).
In 2014, investment at Pontedera included the insourcing of high-precision aluminium machining operations, with the opening of a dedicated shop. The new paint shop is a completely robotised operation that will be completed and opened in April 2016, to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Vespa, whose first patent dates back to 23 April 1946.
The total workforce of the Piaggio Group at 31 December 2015 numbered 7,053 employees. The Group’s Italian employees numbered 3,638, unchanged from the previous year.
