As at mid-June 2019, still some 17 months before the event, the 2020 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building has received 25 confirmed entries for the 14th 'AMD' - well ahead of this time in the cycle at any time since the event moved to Europe from Sturgis and became biennial. In total 31 bikes are already entered, 22 of them for the Avon Tyres FreeStyle Class, with builders coming from 16 countries in total.
Harley says that it made history in May with the 5 millionth motorcycle rolling off their York, PA. assembly line. Having initially been a WWII ant-aircraft gun factory of the U.S. Navy, Harley moved Ironhead Sportster and Shovelhead FL model production there in 1973.
Harley-Davidson was in seventh place in German market share terms for the first five months of 2019 with 5,455 units registered for a 6.22% market share. Harley's best seller YTD in Germany has been the Street Bob (581 units sold), followed by the Sport Glide (514 units sold).
In line with its “Grow Our Business Without Growing Our Environmental Impact” strategic objective, Harley has set a fleet average fuel mileage target of more than 50 miles per U.S. gallon by the year 2027. Future initiatives to help achieve this may include tech such as variable valve systems, smaller engines, direct injection, forced induction, and reductions to friction and weight. Harley says its fleet average fuel economy for 2018 was 44 mpg.
Indian Motorcycle continues to build on its first appearances on the motorcycle manufacturer market share tables for Germany with 529 units sold for a 15th spot for the first five months of 2019 - albeit with sales marginally off compared to the first five months of 2018. Indian is assembling CKD kits for its Scout models (from the Spirit Lake, Iowa facility) at its Poland ATV/UITV factory; FTR 1200 kits are due to start being assembled in Poland by the end of 2019.
The 2019 FIM International Six Days Enduro, the 94th edition of the event, is being staged at Portimao, Portugal, November 11-16. Over 650 riders from more than 30 nations will tackle more than 1,500 km of gruelling terrain and technical tests. Australia won in Chile in 2019. This will be the 13th time the event has been staged in Portugal since its inception in 1913. In 2020 it will move to Italy (Piedmont/Lombardy) for the first time since Sardinia in 2013
BMW Motorrad says it has seen global sales continue to grow strongly, with year-to-date deliveries to the end of April 2019 up by +7.7% to 57,014 units. In April a total of 18,408 (+7.7%) BMW Motorrad motorcycles and maxi scooters were delivered to customers around the world.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW
