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Ducati Worldwide Sales Down 7.4% in First Half 2018

Ducati Motor Holdings is the latest to report a decline in sales.
It was in Q2 2018 which dropped more over the first half of 2018.
Ducati is just one of the manufacturers who are seeing the decline in a soft worldwide motorcycle market.

When analysts said regarded the worldwide motorcycle as “soft,” they weren’t kidding. Ducati Motor Holdings is the latest to announce a sales decline of 7.4% in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year.

Total units sold were 32,250 motorcycles, representing €448 million revenue for the Audi-held motorcycle brand.

To analyze further, Ducati’s second quarter sales were down by 8.9% compared to Q2 2017, translating to 20,319 units compared to 22,300 in the same quarter last year.

Sales in all segments took a hit except for the manufacturer’s sport category which includes the SuperSport and superbike models. This sport category is what keeps them doing reasonably well despite the slump in sales for the other models, as there was a 29% increase with 7,683 units sold in the first half of this year.

That report leads to the Panigale V4 being the key driving force. Sportbikes are dead? We don’t think so. The manufacturer had also iterated that the Mutlistrada 1260 had also performed well.

2018 Ducati Panigale V4S Test & Review

Ducati did not reveal their performance in individual markets, however. However, we do know that the Italian motorcycle market is seeing a resurgence of late, driving up not just Ducati’s sales but also BMW as we reported earlier.

BMW Motorrad Q2 Sales Decline

Will 2018 see the end of Ducati’s eight-year sales increase? In fact, Ducati barely grew in 2017. Do note that this current motorcycle sales slump hit all other manufacturers, too. In our opinion, the industry-wide slump shows that it’s not due to one brand being more popular that the other.

Ducati sold over 55,800 bikes worldwide in 2017!

And of another intriguing note is how will VW Group treat this news (although we feel they won’t divest in Ducati yet).

VW Hints of Selling Ducati (Again)?

It’ll be interesting to see what the other European manufacturers such as KTM and Triumph will report, as they had been doing very well for many years. Triumph, in particular, has seen great growth year-on-year.

John McPhee to Join SIC Moto3 Team?

Ex-British Talent Cup rider, John McPhee is rumoured to be riding for the SIC Moto3 team next year.
McPhee made a huge impression in his debut season.
It all depends on whether Ayumu Sasaki or Adam Norrodin heads up to SIC’s Moto2 team.

There has been much talk about John McPhee joining the SIC (Sepang International Circuit) Moto 3 Racing Team for the 2019 season, despite the Scotsman remaining tight-lipped about his future.

“It certainly looks like I’ll be continuing in Moto3, although it was nice that there were a couple of Moto2 offers there,” he told Crash.net, “Hopefully I should know for sure in the next couple of weeks, which team it’ll be and which bike I’ll be on.”

The Scotsman made a great impression in his first Moto3 season last year by regularly challenging for the lead and running in the top 10. He went on to win his first race at the 2017 Czech Republic Grand Prix, in addition to a total of five career podium finishes including at the Sachsenring recently.

He eventually finished seventh overall in his first season with the Dorna-funded British Talent Cup team, and was then moved to the CIP Green Powerteam for the 2018 season. He was without a ride at the beginning of the 2018 season after the project ended.

The SIC Moto3 seats are currently occupied by Asia Talent Cup Champion Ayumu Sasaki and our local boy, Adam Norrodin. Needless to say, both riders would want to move up to SIC’s Moto2 team, which has Niki Tuuli as the sole rider. SIC could very well expand the team to two bikes and riders for 2019.

Besides that, SIC will also run a MotoGP team from next year. The rider line-up has to be announced, they are set to do officially do so later at the Silverstone round.

Benelli Starting Up Motorcycle Factory in India

India has become the largest motorcycle market, beating out China in 2017.
A total 17.7 million motorcycles were sold during last year.
Benelli is the latest manufacturer to open up a factory in the sub-continent.

Chinese-owned Italian brand, Benelli will be the latest manufacturer to set up a motorcycle factory in India. India is currently the world’s largest motorcycle market.

Benelli is setting up the plant near Hyderabad and have also signed a deal with the Adishwar Auto Ride India-Mahavir Group to market the bikes in India. Remarkably, this new factory will start production beginning October 2018, albeit making motorcycles for the Indian market first.

Needless to say, manufacturing motorcycles in the country for domestic consumption avoids having to pay hefty levies.

India has naturally become the market where motorcycle manufacturers are flocking into, either to market or manufacture their motorcycles. In 2017 alone, a total of 17.7 million motorcycles and scooters were sold. Divided that number with 365 days and that’s a whopping 48,000 units per day!

KTM Motorrad AG was among the first to partner with an Indian motorcycle company, namely Bajaj Auto, to produce small capacity motorcycles for the Asian region before exporting them worldwide.

Other manufacturers include Harley-Davidson who built their Street series there; BMW who partnered with TVS to produce the G 310 lightweight series; all the Japanese Big Four; Triumph Motorcycles had signed an MOU with Bajaj Auto; and Polaris had announced lately that they will assemble Indian Motorcycles and ATVs.

The largest motorcycle companies in India are Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto Ltd. and Eicher who currently owns the Royal Enfield brand. When it was speculated that Ducati was up for sale last year, Eicher made a bid of €1.8 billion.

MotoGP 2018: Johann Zarco Back on Track?

Johann Zarco’s form seemed to have dropped after his crash at Le Mans.
Some speculated that success had gone to his head.
But he had just fought back to finish 2^nd fastest during the post-Czech GP tests yesterday.

Johann Zarco had a great start to the MotoGP 2018 season, when he finished 2^nd twice in four races and well ahead of the factory Movistar Yamaha team.

But after the heartbreaking crash at Le Mans in front of his countrymen, his form had a taken a dip somewhat. The sudden drop in performance even prompted his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 boss, Herve Poncharal, to state that Zarco had suddenly been basking too much in the MotoGP limelight and life in the fast lane, especially after meeting his current girlfriend. Others speculated that he might have contemplated about his mortality after the crash. These riders risk their lives and limbs for the sake of our entertainment, after all.

Poncharal knew the crash at Le Mans was different to any other and Zarco had dropped down the order, finishing 10^th in Italy, 7^th in Catalunya, 8^th in The Nederlands, 9^th in Germany and 7^th again in the Czech Republic races.

“I’m happy about the race, a good race, good pace, and we were able to fight at the beginning,” said an upbeat Zarco. “The soft rear tyre was a good choice, I’m happy for that, it helped me to fight at the beginning. Maybe I could have overtaken more riders at the beginning, but it was difficult. In the race I tried to do the best I can, and in the end for sure the tyre was getting used and it became a little bit more difficult, not because of the tyres just because we’re working on the bike to find the best feeling,” said the 2-time Moto2 champion when interviewed by MotoGP.

But if the results of the just-completed post-Brno tests were anything to come by, Zarco certainly hasn’t lost his motivation and certainly not his skills. With the help of his team on the 2017-spec Yamaha YZR-M1, the Frenchman completed a punishing number of 71 laps and emerged 2^nd fastest overall.

Zarco continued, “Now we are coming back on good things, from the Saturday we are quite fast, not enough to be on the podium but I understood good things this weekend so, I’m pretty happy and when everything isn’t perfect I’m taking points and that’s the main thing at the moment.”

He was honest about the dip in his performance, too, “… maybe in the last races I was racing like a guy who is going to buy the bread every morning. Now I can ride the Yamaha well and the answer is yes, I’m happy.”

A happy rider is a fast rider. The next round is at Austria this weekend, from 12^th August 2018.

BMW HP4 Race ready to rock its first race at Ulster GP

The Ulster GP is happening this weekend where the BMW HP4 Race will compete in its first event.
Held every year at the Dundrod Circuit in Northern Ireland, the Ulster GP is known as the world’s fastest road race.
Tyco BMW and their rider, David Johnson, will have the honours of racing the BMW HP4 Race for the very first time in competition.

As far as road racing goes, there the amazing Isle of Man TT aka “The World’s Most Dangerous Race” and then there’s Ulster GP aka “The World’s FASTEST Road Race”. The boys at Tyco BMW is a renowned name in the road racing scene and come this weekend, they will take out the BMW HP4 Race into its first official competition. (more…)

2018 BMW S 1000 RR test & review – “German Masterpiece”

The 2018 BMW S 1000 RR is considered the pinnacle of superbikes born and bred by BMW Motorrad.
The latest evolution has gained many awards including wins at the Isle of Man TT.
With 199hp and BMW’s latest electronics package, any superbike enthusiast will fall head over heels for this German masterpiece.

Let’s get one thing straight. People buy, own, adore superbikes for their super sexy looks, balls-off-the-wall performance, and the crowds they gather every time they’re parked in a public area or blasting down the front straight in Sepang. There are many to choose from in the Malaysian market today and the one that remains to be one of the most popular has to be the BMW S 1000 RR. (more…)

Bikesrepublic

Latest News

Ducati Motor Holdings is the latest to report a decline in sales.

It was in Q2 2018 which dropped more over the first half of 2018.

Ducati is just one of the manufacturers who are seeing the decline in a soft worldwide motorcycle market.

Ex-British Talent Cup rider, John McPhee is rumoured to be riding for the SIC Moto3 team next year.

McPhee made a huge impression in his debut season.

It all depends on whether Ayumu Sasaki or Adam Norrodin heads up to SIC’s Moto2 team.

India has become the largest motorcycle market, beating out China in 2017.

A total 17.7 million motorcycles were sold during last year.

Benelli is the latest manufacturer to open up a factory in the sub-continent.

Johann Zarco’s form seemed to have dropped after his crash at Le Mans.

Some speculated that success had gone to his head.

But he had just fought back to finish 2nd fastest during the post-Czech GP tests yesterday.

The Ulster GP is happening this weekend where the BMW HP4 Race will compete in its first event.

Held every year at the Dundrod Circuit in Northern Ireland, the Ulster GP is known as the world’s fastest road race.

Tyco BMW and their rider, David Johnson, will have the honours of racing the BMW HP4 Race for the very first time in competition.

The 2018 BMW S 1000 RR is considered the pinnacle of superbikes born and bred by BMW Motorrad.

The latest evolution has gained many awards including wins at the Isle of Man TT.

With 199hp and BMW’s latest electronics package, any superbike enthusiast will fall head over heels for this German masterpiece.

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But he had just fought back to finish 2^nd fastest during the post-Czech GP tests yesterday.