December saw Yamaha Corporation sell more of its shareholding in former subsidiary Yamaha Motor Co. The company divested some 2.3% of the voting shares (some 8 million shares), selling to investment and securities houses for around 190m euro. Estimates at the time suggested that Yamaha Corporation will remain the single largest shareholder in Yamaha Motor Co., but with its share dropping below 10% (estimated at 9.93% from 12.22%), it will now no longer be classed as a “major shareholder” under Japanese stock market rules.
Pirelli has launched what it says is the world’s first “multi-compound” motorcycle tyre. Derived from its experience as the spec tire supplier for the FIM WSBK Championship series, their Diablo Rosso Corsa II is a high-performance sport bike tyre, said to be particularly good for riders who corner hard with greater lean angles.
Italian helmet manufacturer Nolan is now selling dealer-direct in Germany.
Italian boot maker TCX Boots has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing. Team rider Mitchell Harrison (No. 30 FC250) debuted the all-new TCX COMP EVO 2 Michelin at Anaheim in January.
On November 3, Paul Liao, owner of (hitherto) Düsseldorf based chain store group Hein Gericke Europe, filed a petition for self-administration insolvency proceedings. This is believed to be (at least) the fourth time that Hein Gericke, one way or another, in one country or another, has been involved in insolvency proceedings since it was sold by founder Hein Gericke to Eurobike AG in 1987. A legal dispute is also underway in the German courts concerning the rightful ownership of certain Hein Gericke IP assets.
The long running dispute between Alpinestars and Dainese in Germany has been resolved. Alpinestars are now banned from selling its Tech Air products in Germany as it was found to have violated two Dainese D-Air patents. This is all to do with the inclusion of air bags in riding jackets and suits.
Ralf Jodl’s German scooter parts, accessory and tuning specialist SIP Scootershop is to stage its popular annual open house on Saturday, May 5th.
Even though it saw sales dip by -1.3% in 2017, BMW Motorrad’s U.S. sales of 13,546 units in 2017 comfortably beat the domestic U.S. trend which saw motorcycle sales decline by -3.2% in 2017, with December actually showing a +37.3% increase over December 2016 at 1,270 units, finishing the year with four consecutive months of growth. BMW has 153 dealers in the United States.
