5 JUNE: WEEKLY MOTORCYCLE INDUSTRY SHARE PRICES

A snapshot of global bike and ATV industry share performance at the trading week closure on Friday 5 June 2015.

Strong US employment growth data for May, with 280,000 new jobs created during the month and average wages rising, heralded good news for the American economy. But it also meant bad news for Wall Street as the likelihood of an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate hike was increased. That helped to depress the S&P 500 index further on Friday to a week-on-week drop of 0.67% but left many retail-oriented manufacturers unscathed. Both Harley-Davidson and Polaris were in that slot, posting modest gains.

Europe was far more troubled, thanks to Greece staggering ever closer to its default end-game and potential European single currency exit. The Eurofirst 300 fell by 2.7%, and all three big German automotives suffering share price declines. KTM marked time, as absolutely none of its meagre free-floating stock changed hands over the past five days of trading. In Italy, Piaggio bucked the macro-trend with a 2.4% rise. An announcement of 7.9% growth in overall domestic-market scooter sales during May — of which Piaggio brands have a dominant market share — was almost certainly responsible.

Returning Indian economic gloom was indicated by a further small drop in the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex 30, which is now running at almost 3% down on a monthly basis. Every major listed motorcycle manufacturer lost ground. Royal Enfield parent Eicher took the most severe punishment with an 8% slump despite reporting a massive bike sales surge in the past month.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 flagged its first retreat for several weeks, down by 0.5%, but Japanese motorcycling shares moved only marginally. Yamaha and Suzuki were positive while Honda and Kawasaki were negative.

Although the Shanghai and Shenzhen Composite indices are exhibiting slight signs of caution, Chinese bike equities euphoria continues unabated with most stocks still climbing. Qianjiang and Jialing actually lost some value but that was probably associated with profit-taking. Notable performers of the week were Loncin (plus 20.7%), Lifan (plus 12.9%) and Jianshe, (plus 11.6%).

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

USA (US dollar)

Harley-Davidson    P 54.30  C +0.24%  R 72.78 – 53.04  Y -23.04%

Polaris    P 144.46  C +0.57%  R 159.33 – 126.79  Y +10.32%

Arctic Cat    P 33.41  C +2.39%  R 40.59 – 26.00  Y -9.77%

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

Viper    P 0.0033  C N/A  R 0.02 – 0.0012  Y -88.46%

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 26.89  C +0.49%  R 29.25 – 20.67  Y -7.05%

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 24.90  C N/A  R 33.60 – 24.00  Y -6.57%

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

VIETNAM (Hong Kong dollar)

VMEPH    P 0.67  C -2.9%  R 0.85 – 0.40  Y +57.65%

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

INDONESIA (rupiah)

Astra    P 7000  C -0.36%  R 8575 – 6325  Y +0.27%

Indomobil    P 3875  C -2.52%  R 5025 – 3050  Y -16.94%

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 99.32  C -0.13%  R 123.75 – 74.74  Y +9.94%

Daimler    P 81.81  C -0.53%  R 96.07 – 55.10  Y +19.77%

VW    P 213.23  C -0.74%  R 254.99 – 147.35  Y +12.54%

KTM    P 117.00  C N/A  R 141.00 – 83.00  Y +40.21%

Piaggio    P 3.02  C -0.79%  R 3.09 – 1.93  Y +15.07%

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

PAKISTAN (Pakistani rupee)

Atlas Honda    P 350.00  C -0.19%  R 409.00 – 209.00  Y N/A

Pak Suzuki    P 435.00  C -1.68%  R 450.85 – 211.00  Y N/A

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

INDIA (rupee)

Hero    P 2577.65  C +1.17%  R 3271.80 – 2251.30  Y +0.74%

Bajaj    P 2198.50  C -0.88%  R 2695.00 – 1912.50  Y +9.66%

TVS    P 223.15  C -1.37%  R 322.30 – 125.80  Y +71.86% 

Eicher    P 17,391.70  C +0.46%  R 19,545.00 – 7050.00  Y +142.54%

Mahindra    P 1205.85  C +0.86%  R 1433.70 – 1102.00  Y -1.03%

Maharashtra    P 996.70  C +0.29%  R 1124.00 – 537.60  Y +90.09%

Scooters India    P 23.60  C -1.87%  R 38.85 – 23.10  Y -29.55%

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 4228  C -0.75%  R 4400 – 3239  Y +20.92%

Yamaha    P 3150  C N/A  R 3215 – 1675  Y +90.71%

Suzuki    P 4344.5  C -1.87%  R 4435 – 3011.5  Y +41.18%

Kawasaki    P 620  C -0.16%  R 647 – 369  Y +57.45%

CHINA (yuan)

Qianjiang    P 15.10  C +0.53%  R 16.44 – 5.54  Y +159.9%

Zongshen    P 27.09  C -0.4%  R 30.15 – 4.37  Y +442.44%  

Sundiro    P 11.40  C -0.61%  R 12.10 – 3.72  Y +202.43%

Jialing    P 14.62  C -1.55%  R 16.34 – 4.48  Y +192.4% 

Lifan    P 24.22  C +4.98%  R 26.00 – 6.40  Y +268.5%

Loncin    P 35.31  C +0.6%  R 36.95 – 8.31  Y +320.24%

Linhai    P 13.37  C N/A  R 14.29 – 5.81  Y N/A [Trading suspended]

CHINA (Hong Kong dollar)

Jianshe    P 18.55  C -1.17%  R 19.99 – 5.53  Y +229.48% 

Guangzhou Auto    P 7.77  C -0.89%  R 9.87 – 6.58  Y -6.4%

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 7.40  C N/A  R 8.10 – 6.48  Y -6.29%

Hong Leong    P 4.54  C +0.44%  R 7.54 – 3.95  Y -15.66%

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

SOUTH KOREA (won)

KR    P 1215  C +1.25%  R 1600 – 780  Y +17.39%

Daelim    P 80,300  C +1.13%  R 94,300 – 50,400  Y +1.8%

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.)