12-Month EU Extension for Unsold Euro 4 Inventory
Although strong sales since the peak of the first coronavirus lockdown in Europe earlier this year may have helped lessen the problem, at one stage this year it looked like the motorcycle market in Europe may have been headed down a bottomless pit.
The cause of the travail was the timing of the end of the new motorcycle Euro 4 to Euro 5 transition period. All new motorcycles in Europe had to be Euro 5 compliant at the start of 2020, but all unsold Euro 4 inventory as December 31 2020 would have been rendered unsellable.
Fortunately, common sense has prevailed - the EU Council and European Parliament have agreed to a 12-month derogation that will give dealers until the end of 2021 to be able to clear Euro 4 inventory legally.
Brussels based international motorcycle industry trade association ACEM and the various national motorcycle industry trade associations around Europe have lobbied hard to achieve this result and have now welcomed this revision of Euro 4 "end of series" provisions.
"The motorcycle industry in Europe welcomes the recent decision by the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to endorse the European Commission's proposal adapting the rules on end of series vehicles in EU Regulation 168/2013," said Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General.
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| Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General - "The motorcycle sector thanks the European Commission's President von der Leyen as well as Commissioner Breton and his team at DG GROW for their decisive political dealership and swift response to this crisis." |
The proposal, supported by the two legislative bodies, will cover only the vehicles that were in stock at the moment when national lockdowns were introduced across the EU. More specifically, the amount of vehicles benefiting from the revised end of series measures will not exceed the number of Euro 4 L-category vehicles in stock in the EU on 15 March 2020 - which was estimated by industry experts at around 550,000 units.
It is worth emphasizing that the amendment to the end of series provisions in EU Regulation 168/2013 will not affect the original timeline foreseen for the introduction of the Euro 5 standard, i.e. 1 January 2021, for existing moped and motorcycle models type-approved before the 1 of January 2020.