The latest data released by the motorcycle industry trade association in Japan (JAMA) shows Japanese motorcycle manufacturer 250cc+ exports to Europe down by nearly -8 percent for April (at 12,742 units) and broadly "flat" for the year-to-date at 67,131 units.
To put that in context, this is the lowest April figure since 2011, with April 2007 seeing the "Big Four" Japanese manufacturers export some 52,000 units to Europe. In 2007 the first four months of the year were worth more than double the present level at 199,000 units.
Exports to the United States (250cc+ machines) were down by a massive -43.22 percent in April at just 5,466 units and are now running at -28.45 percent for the year-to-date at just 34,220 machines.
In global terms Japanese motorcycle manufacturer exports of 250cc+ machines were down by -20.55 percent at 23,880 units in April, and -9.2 percent for the year-to-date (134,885 units).
A lot more Japanese brand motorcycles and small cc machines are now coming into Europe from subsidiary and affiliate factories elsewhere in the world, but the data still makes alarming reading as the historically market-defining "Big Four" look increasingly like a "Big Two plus a few other models" as European and American manufacturers take ever increasing shares of a much smaller market in Europe and North America.
