BMW has announced that BMW Group Classic, its Grand Hotel Villa D'Este collaborator, has decided to postpone the 2021 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este (again!) from the initially planned end of May 2021 date to the weekend of 1 to 3 October 2021.
PIERER Mobility AG (KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas etc.) has announced guidance for 2021 aftermarket share gains in key motorcycle markets (USA, Australia and Europe), allowing it to better define its 2021 outlook and forecast further expansion of its e-bike segment. For the financial year 2021, sales of between € 1,800 to € 1,900m, an EBIT margin between 8-9 % and an EBITDA margin exceeding 15% are expected. It says it expects demand in the motorized two-wheeler sector to remain high, with a further increase in sales and operating profit compared to 2020. The operating margin in its motorcycle sector is expected to return to pre-crisis levels. Growth is expected to be driven primarily by continued high demand in North America, Australia and China, as well as by the anticipated market recovery in Europe.
The first results are emerging from Polaris' 2020 partnership deal with Zero Motorcycles, in the form of an all-new 2022 electric RANGER utility side-by-side slated to debut in late December 2021, advancing the company's strategic rEV'd up electrification strategy. This full-size RANGER is the first EV Polaris has developed since that deal was announced in September last year, with models of the new electric RANGER due to start arriving in dealerships in early 2022.
In an effort to curtail what it sees as EPA overreach, SEMA has filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit between the U.S. EPA and Gear Box Z. Inc. of Colorado City, Az., arguing against the EPA's contention that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not allow a motor vehicle to be converted into a racing vehicle used solely for competition. In the lawsuit, the EPA asserts that once a vehicle has been certified as a street vehicle, it cannot be converted into a racing vehicle, even if that vehicle is trailered to the track and is never driven on public roads - contradicting its previously stated position on the matter.
Listed on the Milan stock exchange, the Brembo share price fell on early March news that its Q4 2020 revenues were +4.5% at € 648.7m (+7.8% on a like for like exchange rate basis), with net profit +17% at € 64.8m, with strong Q4 growth in China and India. For the 12-month period, revenues were € 2,208.6m, -14.8% compared to the previous year (-13.3% on a like-for-like exchange rate basis). Chairman Alberto Bombassei announced the acquisition of SBS in November 2020.
General Motors has set a goal of making the vast majority of the vehicles it produces electric by 2035, and the entire company carbon neutral, including operations, five years after that. GM has already announced that it will invest $27bn in electric and autonomous vehicles in the next five years, a 35% increase over plans made before the pandemic. It will offer 30 all-electric models worldwide by the middle of the decade. By the end of 2025, 40% of its U.S. models will be battery electric vehicles. The company plans to include crossovers, SUVs, sedans and trucks in its electric vehicle line-up.
In global terms, EU nations are leading the 'drive' to make hydrogen power an easier and more economic alternate to electric (under certain circumstances), with plans to install 40GW of electrolysers this decade - equipment to produce emissions-free hydrogen, using water and renewable power. The EU currently has less than 0.1GW of electrolysers. It is betting on a rapid scale-up to decarbonize steel production, heavy transport and chemicals, the latter of which already uses hydrogen produced from fossil fuels. At present, production of 1 ton of steel results in 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide (and other waste products and toxics).
The Motorcycle Industry Association in the UK has confirmed 4-12 December 2021 for the UK's biggest motorcycle show - Motorcycle Live in association with Bikesure Insurance, at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Birmingham: www.motorcyclelive.co.uk
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com