19 JUNE: WEEKLY MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY SHARE PRICES

A snapshot of global bike and ATV industry share performance at the trading week closure on Friday 19 June 2015.

The Chinese equities market bubble — which has seen average share prices on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges more than double over the past year — appears to have finally burst. Shanghai’s benchmark Composite index suffered a sharp weekly fall of 13.3%. Every single motorcycle stock headed downwards, some by a dramatic degree.

Worst afflicted was Lifan, which lost 24.8% of its value during five days of negative trading. Loncin followed close behind, down by 21.1%. Jialing sank by 16.4% and Qianjiang by 13.3%. The rest only had to put up with single-digit punishment. The sole temporarily unaffected company was Linhai, which remains in regulatory trading suspension. So aggrieved shareholders are unable to cash in their chips before the situation deteriorates much further, as analysts anticipate it will.

With Japan’s yen once again rising against the US dollar, Tokyo was a gloomy place too for export-led companies like the big-four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. While the Nikkei 225 index declined for a third successive week, dropping by 1.14%, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki stocks all lost ground.

India was more cheerful for a change, and every indigenous listed bike producer recovered. By far the best performer was Eicher, its share price surging by 11.7%. However, this was unrelated to the burgeoning Royal Enfield motorcycle brand. Instead, investors were excited by the first four-wheeled product to emerge from Eicher’s latest joint-venture with Polaris.

Speaking of which, both Polaris and Harley-Davidson benefited from positive sentiments in America, where the US Federal Reserve reassured markets that it was still reluctant to raise interest rates. Week-on-week, the former rose by 3.7% and the latter by a hog-tastic 6.9%.

It was a different story in Europe, though given that an ever-more imminent Greek economic implosion continued to dominate eurozone news headlines. Every motorcycle-related share price across Germany, Austria and Italy fell, along with national and continental indices.        

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

USA (US dollar)

Harley-Davidson    P 58.30  C -1.2%  R 72.37 – 53.04  Y -16.76%

Polaris    P 151.18  C +0.36%  R 159.33 – 127.27  Y +18.62%

Arctic Cat    P 34.69  C -2.2%  R 40.59 – 26.00  Y -9.54%

US Highland    P 1.00  C -4.76%  R 1.05 – 0.13  Y N/A

Viper    P 0.00  C N/A  R 0.02 – 0.0012  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 28.22  C +0.86%  R 28.50 – 20.67  Y +6.09%

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 24.60  C +2.5%  R 33.60 – 22.25  Y -20.65%

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

VIETNAM (Hong Kong dollar)

VMEPH    P 0.68  C -1.45%  R 0.85 – 0.40  Y +51.11%

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

INDONESIA (rupiah)

Astra    P 7050  C +0.36%  R 8575 – 6325  Y +1.69%

Indomobil    P 3600  C N/A  R 5025 – 3050  Y -22.75%

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 97.21  C -1.27%  R 123.75 – 74.74  Y +8.03%

Daimler    P 81.71  C -0.18%  R 96.07 – 55.10  Y +19.83%

VW    P 206.08  C -0.49%  R 254.99 – 147.35  Y +8.62%

KTM    P 107.95  C +0.94%  R 141.00 – 83.00  Y +28.6%

Piaggio    P 3.02  C +1.75%  R 3.18 – 1.93  Y +18.27%

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 340.00  C -1.73%  R 409.00 – 209.00  Y N/A

Pak Suzuki    P 445.00  C -1.13%  R 469.00 – 225.00  Y N/A

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

INDIA (rupee)

Hero    P 2551.45  C +1%  R 3271.80 – 2251.30  Y +6.11%

Bajaj    P 2407.75  C +0.49%  R 2695.00 – 1912.50  Y +12.86%

TVS    P 239.45  C +3.34%  R 322.30 – 140.60  Y +67.57% 

Eicher    P 19,445.15  C -0.26%  R 20,049.50 – 7050.00  Y +170.32%

Mahindra    P 1305.55  C +4.11%  R 1433.70 – 1102.00  Y +15.48%

Maharashtra    P 1056.00  C -1.47%  R 1124.00 – 587.70  Y +77.56%

Scooters India    P 24.00  C -4.76%  R 38.85 – 21.75  Y -24.65%

Notes: Hero MotoCorp is a former Honda JV partner. Bajaj 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 3985.5  C +0.64%  R 4400 – 3239  Y +12.57%

Yamaha    P 2920  C +1.74%  R 3245 – 1686  Y +70.21%

Suzuki    P 4092  C +1.55%  R 4435 – 3011.5  Y +28.78%

Kawasaki    P 601  C +0.17%  R 647 – 369  Y +54.16%

CHINA (yuan)

Qianjiang    P 13.48  C -10.01%  R 17.11 – 5.60  Y +134.03%

Zongshen    P 24.64  C -10.01%  R 30.15 – 4.39  Y +445.76%  

Sundiro    P 11.47  C -3.37%  R 12.69 – 3.84  Y +196.46%

Jialing    P 12.74  C -10.03%  R 16.34 – 4.48  Y +172.81% 

Lifan    P 19.62  C -10%  R 27.99 – 6.46  Y +209.4%

Loncin    P 30.26  C -9.16%  R 39.48 – 8.32  Y +263.56%

Linhai    P 13.37  C N/A  R 14.29 – 5.82  Y N/A [Trading suspended]

CHINA (Hong Kong dollar)

Jianshe    P 16.88  C -3.76%  R 19.99 – 5.61  Y +197.18% 

Guangzhou Auto    P 7.19  C -2.44%  R 9.87 – 6.58  Y -15.67%

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 7.25  C +0.97%  R 7.96 – 6.48  Y -6.43%

Hong Leong    P 4.43  C -0.67%  R 7.54 – 3.95  Y -17.46%

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

SOUTH KOREA (won)

KR    P 1110  C -2.63%  R 1600 – 780  Y -12.25%

Daelim    P 76,400  C -1.93%  R 94,300 – 50,400  Y -3.87%

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.)