Evidence that Germany's success in protecting its population from the coronavirus pandemic better than elsewhere has translated into also protecting the German economy better than elsewhere - seen dramatically in the latest data from the IVM, the motorcycle industry trade association in Germany.
Yes, new registrations for April are down, of course they are, but at -28.14% (following -18.70% in March), the impact has been less than elsewhere in Europe. Italy and Spain for example saw April new motorcycle registrations down by more than 90%, but Germany, with April traditionally the second strongest sales month of the year, was still worth 12,064 new motorcycles (-28.14%) and 17,604 new PTWs in total (-25.81%).
Having been +6.38% for January and February combined (13,698 units), registrations were down -8.99% for Q1 (30,279 units YTD). In total PTW terms, Germany was -15.81% in March (22,987 units) and -2.52% for Q1 (43,114 units YTD).
In market share terms, BMW remains 'Top Dog' in its home market at 27.11% share YTD (11,478 units sold), followed by Kawasaki, KTM, Honda and Yamaha. Harley-Davidson was in 6th spot with 3,400 units sold YTD for an 8.03% market share in Germany - ahead of the likes of Triumph, Suzuki and Ducati.
The top selling model was BMW's R 1250 GS (3,955 units YTD), followed by the Kawasaki Z900, Z650, BMW R 1250 RS and Yamaha MT-07. A record 10 of the Top 22 best sellers were BMW models. Harley's best seller YTD in Germany has been the Street Bob (27th), followed by the Sport Glide and XL 1200 X.
For context - the German motorcycle market grew by +4.38% to 113,039 units in 2019, with PTW sales growing by +6.53% to 165,311 units - both the best performance since 2008 (excluding the rush to register pre-Euro 4 models before the law changed at the end of 2016).