17 JULY: WEEKLY MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY SHARE PRICES

A snapshot of global bike and ATV industry share performance at the trading week closure on Friday 17 July 2015.

Global markets in the past week were buoyed by the EU kicking Greece’s rusty can further down the road with yet another putative bail-out, signs of burst-bubble stabilisation in China and positive quarterly earnings reports starting to emerge.

In the US, a 2.18% hike for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial index up by 1.84% generally reflected strength from hi-tech companies like Google. Harley-Davidson, however bucked that trend with a 1.9% weekly fall.

Europe was similarly upbeat as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 stacked on 4.24% and Frankfurt’s Xtra Dax added 3.16%. But the three big German automotives suffered a mixed fate. BMW was flat, Daimler climbed marginally and Volkswagen actually slipped into reverse. A sudden spurt of interest in KTM overwhelmed recent lethargy and pushed its stock up sharply by 8%. Piaggio clearly benefited from the Greek factor, rising by 3.4% on the Borsa Italia in Milan.

Everything was hunky-dory for the Japanese as well. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 made its biggest weekly advance since last October, up by 4.4%, thanks to the yen weakening against the US dollar and thereby boosting exporters. Firmly established in that category, all four indigenous motorcycle manufacturers made gains.

As for the world’s largest emerging markets, India was particularly sound. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s BSE Sensex 30 grew by 2.9% and every major local bike producer enjoyed share price increases. China, on the face of it, was also recovering from recent dramatic woes. The Chinese government has now pumped in around £125bn of interventionist stock market support since its share crash just over a month ago, achieved temporary solace at least by pushing up the Shanghai Composite. However that index remains 19% down on a monthly basis.

Two Chinese bike manufacturers still have listing suspensions. But another pair which had chosen voluntary suspension, Sundiro and Lifan, resumed share trading. And they were rewarded by respective 44% and 28% weekly gains — which smells like the speculative bubble simply reinflating. How long that will last is anybody’s guess. Loncin, which had returned to market in the previous week and made a gain, went backwards by 5.6%.            

Price (P) Daily change (C) 52-week range (R) One-year investment return (Y)  

USA (US dollar)

Harley-Davidson    P 54.96  C -1.29%  R 70.41 – 53.04  Y -16.78%

Polaris    P 152.33  C -0.76%  R 159.33 – 131.64  Y +16.25%

Arctic Cat    P 32.54  C -1.15%  R 39.72 – 26.00  Y -10.58%

US Highland    P 0.70  C -30%  R 1.05 – 0.13  Y N/A

Viper    P 0.0035  C N/A  R 0.02 – 0.0035  Y N/A

Notes: Polaris makes Victory and Indian bikes, ATVs, snowmobiles, quadricycles and EVs. Arctic Cat makes ATVs and snowmobiles. US Highland makes off-road bikes. Viper Powersports makes the Diamondback Super Cruiser.

CANADA (Canadian dollar)

BRP    P 29.34  C +0.24%  R 29.80 – 20.67  Y +10.8%

Notes: Bombardier Recreational Products makes Can-Am ATVs, Spyder road trikes, Ski-Doo snowmobiles, Sea-Doo PWCs and Rotax proprietary engines.

TAIWAN (Taiwanese dollar)

Sanyang    P 22.80  C -2.15%  R 32.55 – 22.20  Y -28.97%

Notes: Sanyang Motor (SYM) is the leading Taiwanese bike manufacturer. 

VIETNAM (Hong Kong dollar)

VMEPH    P 0.58  C N/A  R 0.85 – 0.40  Y +39.76%

Notes: Vietnam Manufacturing & Export Processing Holdings, a JV partner of SYM, is the third-largest Vietnamese bike manufacturer. 

INDONESIA (rupiah)

Astra    P 6825  C -0.36%  R 8575 – 6325  Y -7.99%

Indomobil    P 3545  C -0.14%  R 4600 – 3050  Y -21.8%

Notes: Astra International is a Honda JV partner. Its controlling shareholder is British conglomerate Jardine Matheson. Indomobil Sukses Internasional is a Suzuki JV partner.

EUROPE (euro)

BMW    P 95.69  C -0.28%  R 123.75 – 74.74  Y +4.8%

Daimler    P 84.69  C -0.54%  R 96.07 – 55.10  Y +32.56%

VW    P 202.83  C -0.02%  R 254.99 – 147.35  Y +12.69%

KTM    P 118.85  C +2.28%  R 141.00 – 83.00  Y +28.03%

Piaggio    P 3.03  C -1.62%  R 3.18 – 1.93  Y +35.25%

Notes: Daimler’s AMG-Mercedes subsidiary has a 25% stake in MV Agusta. Volkswagen Group owns Ducati and a 20% stake in Suzuki.

PAKISTAN (Pakistani rupee)

Atlas Honda    P 354.83  C +5%  R 409.00 – 209.00  Y N/A

Pak Suzuki    P 446.00  C +1.21%  R 469.00 – 225.00  Y N/A

Notes: Atlas Honda and Pak Suzuki are JV assembly partners.

INDIA (rupee)

Hero    P 2649.40  C N/A  R 3271.80 – 2251.30  Y +8.19%

Bajaj    P 2529.45  C -0.64%  R 2695.00 – 1912.50  Y +23.95%

TVS    P 263.25  C -1.29%  R 322.30 – 141.10  Y +55.12% 

Eicher    P 21,100.65  C +0.1%  R 21,580.65 – 8162.15  Y +147.12%

Mahindra    P 1296.60  C +1.55%  R 1433.70 – 1102.00  Y +10.57%

Maharashtra    P 1162.95  C +0.62%  R 1200.00 – 681.25  Y +66.03%

Scooters India    P 25.65  C +2.4%  R 38.85 – 21.75  Y -8.88%

Notes: Hero MotoCorp is a former Honda JV partner. Bajaj has a major shareholding in KTM and ties with it and Kawasaki. TVS is a former Suzuki JV partner. Eicher makes the Royal Enfield brand. Mahindra & Mahindra has an own-brand bike range and a majority stake in French scooter brand Peugeot. Maharashtra Scooters assembles CKD scooter kits manufactured by Bajaj. Scooters India makes Vikram three-wheeled taxis and light trucks. The Indian government has a majority stake.

JAPAN (yen)

Honda    P 3978  C +0.19%  R 4400 – 3239  Y +14.04%

Yamaha    P 2728  C +0.29%  R 3245 – 1702  Y +59.29%

Suzuki    P 4193  C +1.4%  R 4435 – 3011.5  Y +28.78%

Kawasaki    P 565  C -0.7%  R 647 – 369  Y +47.53%

CHINA (yuan)

Qianjiang    P 8.29  C +7.94%  R 17.11 – 5.55  Y +35.68%

Zongshen    P 17.25  C N/A  R 30.15 – 4.67  Y N/A  [Trading suspended]  

Sundiro    P 7.64  C +9.77%  R 12.69 – 3.99  Y +90.61%

Jialing    P 7.90  C +10.03%  R 16.34 – 5.27  Y +33% 

Lifan    P 13.68  C +9.97%  R 27.99 – 7.52  Y 78.9%

Loncin    P 26.33  C +6.3%  R 39.48 – 10.15  Y +141.93%

Linhai    P 13.37  C N/A  R 14.29 – 6.90  Y N/A [Trading suspended]

Guangzhou Auto    P 17.50  C +6.06%  R 18.33 – 7.63  Y +126.54%

CHINA (Hong Kong dollar)

Jianshe    P 10.78  C +7.8%  R 19.99 – 5.93  Y +79.37% 

Notes: Qianjiang owns Keeway and formerly Italian Benelli. Zongshen makes own-brand bikes and proprietary engines, and has JV partnerships with Piaggio, (scooters), and Harley-Davidson (parts). Sundiro is a Honda JV partner. Jialing makes own-brand bikes using Honda licensed technology. Lifan makes own-brand bikes and distributes MV Agusta in China. Loncin is a Kawasaki JV partner and OEM engine contractor to BMW Motorrad. Linhai and Jianshe are Yamaha JV partners. Guangzhou Automobile Group is the parent of Honda JV partner and own-brand bike manufacturer Wuyang. 

MALAYSIA (ringgit)

Oriental Holdings    P 7.27  C N/A  R 7.94 – 6.46  Y -6.16%

Hong Leong    P 4.49  C -0.22%  R 7.54 – 3.95  Y -16.84%

Notes: Oriental Holdings is a Honda JV partner. Hong Leong Industries is a Yamaha JV partner.

SOUTH KOREA (won)

KR    P 1170  C -1.27%  R 1600 – 780  Y +4.46%

Daelim    P 84,700  C -3.75%  R 98,000 – 50,400  Y +2.33%

Notes: KR Motors makes Hyosung bikes and ATVs. Daelim Industrial retains a controlling 59% stake in Daelim Motor, the largest bike manufacturer in Korea. (The remainder is British, owned by Standard Chartered Bank.)