Germany - motorcycles +16.63 to June
The significant rebound in new motorcycle registrations so far this year in Germany (the German motorcycle market was -7.22% for the 2022 full year) continued through June 2023.
The most recent available data from the IVM (the motorcycle trade association in Germany) show January up by +31.26% (4,598 units), February +22.29% (10,677 units), March +11.76% (20,939 units), April +10.42% (14,495 units), May +9.52% (14,320 units) and June +31.34 (14,708 units) - for the YTD a total of 79,737 units (+16.63%).
Germany fell into technical recession last winter with a -0.5% drop in GDP in the final quarter of 2022, followed by a further -0.3% decline in GDP in Q1, 2023 and is "still failing to grow", according to AP. German economic output stagnated in the April-June quarter, and the IMF is forecasting that Germany will be the only one of the world's major economies to shrink this year.
However, reflecting continued benefit from licencing changes, in total PTW (Powered Two-Wheeler) terms, the German market was +10.19% after the first six months (130,469 units YTD) - also the best start to the year since before 2008.
With no fewer than seven models in the top 25 best-sellers, it is no surprise that BMW has maintained its commanding dominance in its home market with 16,590 units sold so far for a 20.81% market share. Honda is second (13,428/16.84% share), with Kawasaki third (8,147 units sold for a 10.22% share), followed by KTM, Yamaha, H-D, Ducati, Triumph, Suzuki and Husqvarna in 10th spot.
The BMW R 1250 GS has continued into 2023 as the best-selling model so far this year (5,051 units sold for a 6.33% share), Kawasaki's Z 900 is second, with its Z650 in fourth - showing Kawasaki's market resurgence of recent years as continuing with 2,447 units sold for a 3.07% share and 1,524 units sold for a 1.91% share, respectively. Honda's new-for-2023 CB 750 Hornet is the third best-seller YTD in Germany (2,240 units sold for a 2.81% share), with the company's CB 650 R Neo Sports Café in fifth spot (1,347 units sold YTD for a 1.69% share).
The next best-sellers YTD on the German market are the Yamaha MT 07, Honda's CMX 500 Rebel and CBR 650 R, showing that the rise of the middleweights continues, followed by the BMW F 900 R and the Yamaha Ténéré 700, one spot higher than its MT-09. Honda's also-new-for-2023 XL 750 Transalp is in 12th spot (935 sold).
In electric (light) motorcycle terms, Zero was the top-selling brand YTD, but on low volumes still with 197 units sold for a 23.7% share of the German electric (light) motorcycles market. Vmoto was the second placed manufacturer (112 units/13.11% share), followed by KTM (40 units sold, 4.68% share), Italy's Energica (26 units, 3.04% share) and Tinbot (20 units sold for a 2.34% market share).
Though road-going electric motorcycles are only part of the EPTW story, they are a bellwether, and with the top-five brands only recording 541 units registered between them so far this year, out of a total of 854 units, in Germany (of all markets), there is clearly still a long way to go if the tsunami of capital being invested in electric PTW brands is ever to show a return.
In this context, the EU's compromise of its 2035 new ICE vehicle ban in the face of the powerful German auto lobby, to allow post-2035 registration of vehicles that run exclusively on e-fuels, puts some of the EPTW forecasts being seen used for ambitions stock market flotations put into an even more ambitious context (especially 'looking at you' Harley-Davidson/LiveWire.) Vehicles with internal combustion engines can now still be newly registered throughout the EU after 2035, if they fill up exclusively with CO2-neutral fuels.
For the record: German motorcycle registrations were -7.22% for the full year in 2022 (107,992 units); thanks to the ongoing beneficial impacts of changes in domestic German licencing, total PTW registrations were essentially flat in 2022 at +0.69% (201,433 units).
