At the end of April, the MCIA in the UK took the brave step of trying to forecast UK PTW sales for 2020. With Q1 having been -12.2% (March -21%), they guesstimated that Q2 would likely be down some -58%, but with Q3 showing +7.7% growth vs. 2019, and the full year -18.2% at 87,897 units compared to 107,408 in 2019.
Ducati produced 13,395 units in Q1 this year (-17%), with the largest sector being Sport (SuperSport, Panigale) which accounted for 30% of production. Of those, Ducati delivered 9,585 units to customers (-24%), the largest sector being 2,894 Hypermotard and Multistrada models with Scramblers taking the biggest hit with a decline in demand of nearly 40% (1,765 units shipped, but 2,451 manufactured). Sales revenue was -23% at € 121 m for an operating loss of -€ 1m for the quarter.
Suzuki reported 242.6bn yen net sales revenue in its motorcycle business for Q4 of its 2019/2020 financial year (the period to march 31st 2020), down from 255.1bn for the year ago quarter (-4.9%) for a -81% segment profit (operating income) of 693m yen. For its fourth quarter, Suzuki sold 362,000 PTWs worldwide (plus 3,000 ATVs) for a -16.4% decline. Domestic sales were 11,000 units (-16.7%); Europe 9,000 units (-11.9%); North America 7,000 units (-14.6%) and Asia 365,000 units (-16.4%). On a consolidated net sales basis for the full year ended March 31st, 2020 Suzuki sold 1,410,000 PTWs (-4.3%). Domestic sales were 50,000 units (-6.4%); Europe 39,000 units (-12.5%); North America 33,000 units (-10.9%) and Asia 1,121,000 units (-4.3%).
Poland
New motorcycle registrations for April were -48.40% (1,613 units) having been -37.73% for March (1,350), and are -28.52% YTD (4,751 units). Poland is a big market for imported used motorcycles, so new units together with used machines receiving their first registration in Poland is always an interesting metric - April saw combined unit registrations of 5,916 (-54.53%) with YTD at 21,165 units (-30.44%).
Sweden
New motorcycle registrations in April were only modestly down by -4.86% at 1,958, with YTD at +9.56% (4,586 units). This reflects the very different coronavirus response in Sweden. In total PTW terms, April was essentially flat (+0.75%) at 3,775 new registrations and is +18.42% YTD (8,584 units).
Switzerland
New motorcycle registrations were -34.54% in April (2,611 units) and are -19.03% YTD (8,149 units). In total PTW terms, the Swiss market was worth 3,863 units in April (-37.47%) and is -21.61% YTD (12,336 units). Yamaha is market share leader, ahead of Honda, BMW, Kawasaki and Harley-Davidson. The top-selling model YTD has been the Kawasaki Z 900, followed by the Yamaha MT 07, BMW R 1250 GS, Kawasaki Z 650 and Yamaha Ténéré 700.
Austria
Motorcycle registrations for Q1 were -46.29% at 1,876 units; total PTW registrations were 4,438 units (-42.22%).
Japanese Made Motorcycle Exports to Europe
Exports of Japanese made motorcycles to Europe (250 cc+) by the 'Big-Four' were +3.67% in March (20,769 units), having been up in January (+26.57%) and February (+15.69%), and were running at +14.68% for the year to March 31st (65,744 units). Worldwide exports are -4.62% (96,164 units) for Q1. In total PTW terms, Japanese made machines exported to Europe were +14.96% YTD (66,862 units); worldwide they were -7.24% at 110,876 units.
