Los Angeles Harley-Davidson of Anaheim in Fullerton, California, has been sold by the Jones family to Rodin Younessi, who now owns five Harley dealerships - Space Coast Harley-Davidson of Palm Bay, Florida; Treasure Coast Harley-Davidson in Stuart, Florida; Raging Bull Harley-Davidson of Durham, North Carolina; and Falcons Fury Harley-Davidson of Conyers, Georgia. The dealership will continue to operate at its existing location at 2635 West Orangethorpe Avenue in Fullerton, California.
Motorcycle registrations in European (EU) markets were +7.2% January - June (+37,962 units) at 564,841 for the January to June period. Registrations for the all-important second quarter were up by +7.91 percent (+28,314) units to 360,314 for the April to June period, having been +4.23% for the first quarter of 2018 (+8,648 units) at 204,537. With 130,540 units (a +4.4% increase on a year-on-year basis) Italy remains the largest European motorcycle market, followed by France (98,660 motorcycles, +7.8%), Germany (97,620 motorcycles, +10.5%), Spain (72,900 motorcycles, +8.2%) and the UK (55,350 motorcycles, +3.4%).
Global demand for motorcycles is projected to expand by +4.4% per year through 2022 according to researchandmarkets.com. It says that growth in demand will be driven by rising personal incomes in developing nations, the introduction of new top-of-the-line models in mature markets, and the growing use of motorcycles for business and recreation purposes. Rapidly increasing demand for e-bikes will provide the impetus for much of the growth.
St. Paul and Wild Prairie H-D (Eden Prairie) in Minnesota have been sold by Tom and Melanie Giannetti. St. Paul Harley was founded in 1945 by Howard Belmont, a local motorcycle enthusiast, with the Giannettis acquiring it in 1999. Wild Prairie was established in 2008 in Eden Prairie and boasts a 33,000 square foot facility. The buyer is Dale Rhoads, an experienced Harley dealer owning and operating numerous dealerships throughout Minnesota, Oklahoma and Kansas.
The iconic Vespa brand name is to finally appear on an electric scooter. Owner Piaggio finally confirmed that the much hyped proto-designs seen at EICMA last year finally entered production in September 2018. Piaggio says that ‘Vespa Elettrica’ will be the group’s first product to adopt “innovative machine-man interconnectivity solutions” - available online to begin with only from the start of October. Production will be at the historic Pontedera plant near Pisa in Italy, where the first Vespa rolled off the line in the spring of 1946.