The coronavirus pandemic has hurt the world economy, with some quarantine measures grinding several industries to a halt. Governments, as well as private sector industries, had to close down to mitigate the spread of the virus. As the world's countries and economies begin to gradually open up, people are finding new ways to cope with the new normal, particularly the need to socially distance.
Motorcycles have always been a helpful tool during tough economic times. Like in post-world war Europe, and Vietnam, people turned to motorcycles as their primary means of transportation. Here in the Philippines, motorcycle sales have been great, as more people are turning to motorcycles for their daily transport needs.
Not surprisingly, BMW Motorrad has also reported outstanding sales despite the ongoing pandemic, with possible double-digit growth rates in the Asian and pan-European region seen by the end of 2020.
Despite offering mostly leisure bikes, BMW Motorrad has reported outstanding sales last month, with a 9.8% increase vs. the same month in 2019. Overall, BMW Motorrad was able to sell 76,707 motorcycles worldwide but still down by 17.7% compared to the previous year.
Double-digit growth rates in Europe and Asia
Sales in the pan-European market were largely responsible for the positive development of BMW Motorrad in June 2020. A total of 13,937 BMW motorcycles were sold in this region – 2,684 units more than in the same month of the previous year – or an increase of 23.9%. In addition to the home market of Germany with an increase of 58.2%, the markets in France (+72.9%), the Benelux countries (+ 52.2%), and Portugal (+ 52.0%) contributed significantly to the recovery in Europe.
The Asia-Pacific market was also pleasingly robust in the month of June. BMW Motorrad was able to sell 2,997 motorcycles in Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand – an increase of 17.3%.
sales fueled by new models
BMW Motorrad attributes this growth to its new models, the F 900 R, F 900 XR and S 1000 XR presented last autumn that were particularly popular with buyers in the first six months of this year. Of course, they were helped by the continuous bestsellers, the R 1250 GS and R 1250 GS Adventure, boxer models like the R-NineT, and the super sports bike, the S 1000 RR.
Ending 2020 positively despite difficult environment
"In the short term, of course, the operational focus is still on tackling the Corona crisis," said Timo Resch, Head of Sales and Marketing BMW Motorrad. "The team of BMW Motorrad and our international BMW Motorrad retail partners are also doing everything they can to be able to react as best as possible to the wishes and needs of our customers in the second half of 2020 with the clear goal of successfully closing 2020 in a difficult market environment, however, with significantly reduced sales compared to our record year in 2019. Of course, our entry into the Cruiser segment with the BMW R18 will also play an important role here."
