BMW 2008 Motorcycle Sales Report

[Admin]

BMW claims worldwide sales outpaced the industry in general for 2008.

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[bullofspadez]

well from the other reports it looks like the dual sport/ endouro bikes are the best seller this year...and BMW has a lot on that market along with KTM. Good for them, maybe they can open more shops b/c the waitlist for service is HORRID(going from what a friend of mine says, maybe that why he bought a KTM).

[Bruce McCrary]

Well yeah, but...

It's one of those statistical things. If sales of dual sports tripled that sounds impressive, but if there were only 5 of them sold... You get the idea.

The key numbers to watch is the overall sales figures and they are nose diving. The only thing specific segment numbers give you are trends.

Bruce

[bullofspadez]

right but it was talking about BMW overall sales, they have a better niche market than the rest, thats why the "5" dual sport bikes that were sold were more profitable...b/c they were prolly BMW. If your talking about trends shifting then BMW has put themselves in a good spot along with KTM. And the overall sales shows that too.

[Bruce McCrary]

Originally Posted by bullofspadez

right but it was talking about BMW overall sales, they have a better niche market than the rest, thats why the "5" dual sport bikes that were sold were more profitable...b/c they were prolly BMW. If your talking about trends shifting then BMW has put themselves in a good spot along with KTM. And the overall sales shows that too.

I can't speak to the BMW thing, they just aren't a company that I've kept close ties on, or that you hear a lot about 'industry wise'.

On the other hand, I am a genuine KTM nut have worked for a KTM dealer, and we'll probably be one in the not too distant future. To that end I can tell you that things aren't all sunshine and roses in Austria or Lorain, Ohio. They aren't, to the best of my knowledge anyway, in any immediate danger of closing, but they aren't in a real comfortable place either.

They've all but shelved their professional race teams, which for a company whose slogan is "Ready To Race" is pretty significant. They also cut funding for their rider development program here in the US. A buddy of mine was running that effort and make no mistakes, it was all due to budget issues.

One of KTM's biggest selling points to racers was that they are always on the cutting edge and the company is 'small' enough to make changes in the line up quickly. But that same thing hurts them in overall profitability in their buying power for specific items and in R&D costs.

The street program as well as the 'dual sport' and 'adventure bike' programs, as far as I know, have yet to realize them any real money. Typical KTM the machines bristle with engineering marvels and trickness, which all comes at a price, but neither of them have been big sellers.

The trick here for companies like KTM and I would assume BMW is that they have to position themselves in the market understanding that they aren't going to sell huge volumes of units, have to stay on the forefront of technology and still remain profitable. BMW can and does rely heavily on profits from the automotive side of things, but KTM isn't in that position. That's why you constantly see KTM doing things like the recent partnering with Polaris, trying to maintain a competitive edge.

Bruce