INTERMOT and EICMA confirm continued growth and dominance of the "premium" end of the marketTHIS year's major industry shows both displayed evidence of early stage market recovery being underway, in terms of visitor numbers and with regard to the reports that we here at IDN heard about sales in the aftermarket parts and accessories sectors.
The Adventure Tourer and 'Naked' street bike sectors still appear to be the primary focus for high-volume parts and accessory product lines, but with plenty of top-end products (such as exquisite rearsets and wheels for the most recent Ducati and BMW models in particular), the trend towards "premium" products in quality and design terms, and towards rider conveniences and ergonomics, continues to dominate the direction that is leading the vendor community out of the downturn.
While both shows had unsold exhibit space in their halls (especially EICMA), and while there were still notable absences from the exhibitor line-ups (also especially at EICMA), the smaller booth habit that many parts and accessory vendors have been adopting for some time now meant that there was still sufficient critical mass at both exhibitions to keep even the most demanding dealers and consumers engaged.
"that is obvious from the comparative visitor demographic"
As ever, the "real estate" was dominated by the OEs, though they too have also cut down their footprints in recent years. Having embraced housekeeping to ensure that they stayed in-the-game, the aftermarket is managing to make smaller booth spaces pay off, with a sense of purpose and focus dominating their exhibits.
That's not to say that there were no spectacular booths, especially at EICMA, and especially among the helmet manufacturers, where there continues to be an arms race among the likes of Airoh, Nolan Group and LS2, as those who see themselves as the brand "players" staking their claims for market leadership moving forward.
INTERMOT has clearly reconfirmed its reputation as the leading "international industry and public event" for high mileage motorcycle riders, which is obvious from even the briefest comparative scrutiny of the visitor demographic on the busiest of the consumer days at both shows.
With over 200,000 trade and consumer visitors packing the aisles of Europe's fifth largest exhibition complex, this year the City of Cologne has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first time the international motorcycle industry came to town, with the albeit much remodelled Koelnmesse facility itself marking its own 90th anniversary.
Meanwhile, four weeks later, EICMA marked its 100th anniversary with an excellent series of retrospective 'Decade' exhibits that purposed much of the unsold hall space with a well conceived series of exhibits that showcased the trends in the 100 years of market evolution seen at their shows.
EICMA's post show release said that their attendance was also up over the last show, by a claimed 14.7 percent over 2013. However, there remains widespread scepticism among industry observers and exhibitors alike in connection with the total number claims that EICMA makes, in common, it has to be said, with those issued by other motorcycle exhibition organisers in Italy.
EICMA say that 45,910 of the 628,000 visitors who "crossed the gates" at the Rho Fiera Milano were "trade" visitors of one kind or another (with 31 percent of them coming from outside Europe), and that they hosted 1,053 exhibitors from 34 countries.
In that other expo arms race, the one of expo rivalry, INTERMOT claim around 960 vendors, from some 37 countries, with visitors of one kind or another from 105 countries in total - indeed 69 percent of their exhibitor footprint comes from outside Germany, which is certainly a higher percentage than the largely domestic Italian exhibitor footprint seen at EICMA.
Regardless of the numbers, the general view at both shows was that there is the return of some kind of growth, and of a return to a market in Europe that favours quality over price, with large displacement riding leading the way.
EICMA still has its much larger share of apparel, race and smaller displacement exhibitors, and that remains a major differentiator between the two, and still a major characteristic of the domestic Italian market.
INTERMOT on the other hand is much more connected to street performance and robust longer distance riding solutions. Overall though, the conclusions to be drawn from the two events are similar.
Despite the macro-economic concerns that continue to haunt the Euro currency bloc, the modest growth now being seen in new motorcycle registrations Europe is beginning to filter through to the aftermarket parts and accessory industry - even if the reality is that this is still affecting sentiment rather more than actual product volume growth, with improving profits in the sector still due at least as much to judicious business management (such as buying smaller expo booths!) as they are to actual increases in sales revenues.
