[MARKET UPDATE]

The Crisis of the PTW Market in Europe: -9%

Summer looked bleak for the European PTW market. The January to August sales performance already indicates that 2011 will likely end with a negative double digit figure

During the summer more motorcycles are sold than during the rest of the year. This was the golden rule for motorcycle salesmen who hoped business would finally start to improve, compared to two consecutive negative years. However, the crisis destroyed this certainty too, along with 25% of the volumes that were achieved until 2008.

During the first eight months of 2011, sales of new powered two-wheelers in the countries monitored by ACEM, were down 8,86% over the same period of 2010, with just 105.6906 registered units.

Since 2008 ACEM is calling for policymakers to devote more attention to this situation which is causing dramatic consequences to the labour market. For instance, Malaguti a historic Italian scooter manufacturer, will shut down at the end of this month after 81 years of activity.

Among the five main EU markets Italy -17.3%, Spain -15,1%, and The Netherlands -13% are reporting the biggest losses. Some countries that had seemed to be doing well at the end of the first semester, like Belgium and France, have considerably reduced their advantage.

France faces a small decrease (-2.82%) while Germany seems to be the only country resisting the general trend with a positive 3.7%. The UK lose a 2.36%.

A closer look at the motorcycle and moped segments shows that they share almost equally the aggregated losses with -8.90% for PTWs over 50cc and mopeds declining by 8.75%.

Untill the onset of the 2012 motorcycling season, it is not likely that the EU market will make up for the lost opportunities. In northern countries motorcyclists store their motorcycles waiting for the end of the cold and rainy weather, while in South of Europe, costumers postpone a potential purchase until new models are available.

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