While the brand’s latest headline bike may be supercharged, the same cannot be said for Kawasaki Heavy Industries motorcycle division, according to accumulative results for the nine months of its current financial year to 31 December 2014.
Divisional revenue fell marginally by 0.1 per cent to £1.19bn. This flaccid figure was attributed to falling sales in Latin America and Thailand offsetting increases in Indonesia and Europe. However, a better model mix meant operating profit from the sector grew by 2.5 per cent to £23m.
European bike and ATV sales volume was up by 14.8 per cent to 31,000 units, the US was flat at 60,000 units and higher-volume emerging markets totalled 294,000 units, dropping by 2.6 per cent. Japan was down by 14.3 per cent at 12,000 units. For the 12 months of its full fiscal year to 31 March 2015, Kawasaki is forecasting a rise of about two per cent in wholesale shipments to 600,000 units, as a fourth-quarter surge in new-season production kicks in.
For KHI as a whole, revenue rose by 10.4 per cent to £5.7bn. Operating profit was up by 31 per cent to £338m and net profit increased by 93.5 per cent to £252m. This significant improvement in profitability was mainly due to the group’s aerospace and shipbuilding divisions.  Â
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