The Piaggio Group says it strengthened its position on the European two-wheeler market, closing the first quarter of 2016 with an overall market share of 13.6% (13.1% in the first quarter of 2015) and a 24.5% market share in scooters (approximately 11 percentage points ahead of its second European competitor).
The Group says it also maintained "particularly strong positioning" on the North American scooter market, with a share of 19.6%.
In the scooter sector, the Piaggio Group reported excellent results in the "high-wheel segment" thanks to the new Piaggio Liberty scooter and the strong performance of the Beverly bestseller, which generated an improvement of +32.8% in global revenues from the first quarter of 2015.
In the high-wheel scooter segment, beginning in the second quarter of 2016, the Group will also have the support of the new Piaggio Medley ABS launched recently in 125 and 150cc displacements.
The Vespa brand strengthened its presence on the European market, with revenues up by +7.1%.
Group revenues also improved in motorcycles, with an overall increase of +9.7%. This result was assisted by higher sales for the Moto Guzzi California line (+5.3%), while sales for the Aprilia motorcycle brand were driven by the Supersports models with V4 engines, where shipments rose sharply, with +62.5% growth in sales volumes for the RSV4 1000 range and +104.4% growth in sales volumes for the Tuono models.
In the first quarter to 31 March 2016, the Group sold 74,800 two-wheelers worldwide (74,200 in the year-earlier period), generating net sales of 208.2 million euro, an improvement of +2% from 204.1 million euro in the first quarter of 2015. The figure includes spares and accessories.
The total workforce of the Piaggio Group as at 31 March 2016 numbered 7,074 employees. The Group’s Italian employees numbered 3,620, substantially unchanged from the previous year.
