In partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), Polaris has announced the 2023 recipients of the Polaris Fund for Outdoor Recreation grants. The partnership was established in 2021 with Polaris pledging to donate $5m to the NFF over five years to provide grants and project funding to support outdoor recreation and conservation work to help protect forests and surrounding lands. This year's funding will support partnership projects in various National Forest locations, including the Kelly Motorized Trail system in Arizona, the Alpine Tunnel in Colorado, and the Stagecoach Trail in Vermont.
KTM parent company PIERER Mobility and Chinese partner CFMoto are to strengthen their cooperation through an expansion of their joint venture in China, with the Chinese manufacturer increasing its shareholding in PIERER Mobility to 2.0%. The two are strengthening their cooperation in the areas of product strategy, development as well as industrialization. In January 2023, KTM took over the distribution of CFMoto motorcycles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Great Britain, leveraging its established sales organization in these markets. Production capacity of CFMoto made KTM units is to be increased from 50,000 to 100,000 units. Founded in 1989, CFMoto sells through more than 3,000 dealers worldwide.
Reuters reports that car sales in Russia rose 151.8% year-on-year in June 2023, despite 'western' sanctions. This continues a rebound seen there from a dramatic -59% car industry slump in 2022. Russia's auto industry had been heavily reliant on investment, equipment and parts from overseas and in response to the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine many foreign automakers withdrew from the Russian market entirely.
Polaris donated more than $135,000 to Off-Road and Snow organizations through its Spring T.R.A.I.L.S. Grants. In total, Polaris has donated more than $3.1m to ATV, off-road and snowmobiling organizations across the U.S. and Canada through its ongoing twice annual T.R.A.I.L.S. Grant Program. "Polaris is committed to promoting responsible riding practices and advancing stewardship initiatives that help protect and care for the outdoors."
How things change. Japanese made motorcycle exports to USA (+250 cc) were running at -17.57% (21,531 units) for the first four months of 2023. From a peak of nearly 437,000 units in 2006, Japanese built export to the U.S. had collapsed to 63,000 by 2010. Having recovered a little to hover round the 70k to 120k range between then and 2018, they bottomed out again at just under 43,000 in 2021 before growing to 85,000 units for the full year in 2022.
The annual MIC Capitol Hill Fly-In (May 2023) saw 30 MIC members participate in 73 Washington D.C. meetings as the industry representatives sought to lobby law makers on behalf of the powersports industry. The delegation included OEs, aftermarket, and dealers, plus five of the MIC Board of Directors, members of the SVIA and ROHVA boards and the MIC Dealer Advisory Council, and MIC staff. Discussing matters vital to the powersports industry, they met with U.S. Senators and U.S. House Representatives, and a number of House and Senate officials, including Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and Highway Safety Specialist LaCheryl Jones of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The parent company board of BMW Motorrad has approved a further share buy-back programme with a volume of up to € 2bn. The repurchased shares will be largely cancelled, reducing share capital accordingly. It is scheduled to start upon conclusion of the first buy-back programme, which was started in July 2022, and is expected to be completed in mid-2023. The authorization to repurchase up to 10% of the share capital within five years was granted by the Annual General Meeting of BMW AG in May 2022.
Polaris says it is "carving a new path for SxS and outdoor adventure with the Polaris Xpedition - a first-of-its-kind adventure vehicle that elevates outdoor pursuits." It offers a 114 hp engine, FOX Suspension, heating and air conditioning, five-seat configuration and 200+ mile fuel range. Polaris describes the Xpedition XP and ADV as an entirely new category of "adventure side-by-sides, combining the all-terrain capabilities of traditional side-by-sides with comfort and cargo capabilities typically associated with overlanding at the highest level." MRSP starts from $28,999.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com