A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 29 November 2024. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — NO STOPPING EQUITY GAINS
US stocks soared on the final NYSE trading day of November, putting them on course for their biggest monthly gain in a year. Earlier in the week, American automotive shares had briefly slumped, unsettled by Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs on vehicle imports from neighbouring trade partners and China. But broader equities markets shrugged off the move and the upwards trajectory wasn’t seriously interrupted.
Wall Street market indices consistently closed boasting positive figures. Blue-chip S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite stocks both added 1.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.4% up. S&P’s MidCap 400 was weakest, rising by 0.7%. But with the sole exception of Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire electric bike spin-off, MidCap powersports listings registered advances.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 33.46 | +0.8% | +5.2% |
| Polaris Industries | 68.31 | +0.5% | -3% |
| Textron | 85.63 | +1.9% | +5.1% |
| Niu Technologies | 1.86 | +0.5% | -19.5% |
| LiveWire | 6.00 | -8.1% | +4.2% |
EUROPE — HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
Eurozone inflation rose by 2.3% in November, exceeding the European Central Bank’s target for the first time in three months. But because this was in line with the expectations of analysts, who now increasingly take ECB prognostications with the proverbial pinch of salt, investors shrugged off inflationary concerns and European shares followed US markets to close higher.
The key Dax Xetra index in Frankfurt was typical, up by 1.7%, with BMW shares comfortably adding 3.2% — despite the fact that BMW’s US and Mexican car assembly plants are directly in the potential Trump tariff firing line. Austria’s Wiener Börse ATX also came in narrowly positive by 0.2%.
However, Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, the Austrian-domiciled KTM/Pierer Mobility business, had just consigned itself into judicial administration and was paying the price. Pierer shares suffered a weekly 7.8% plunge and have lost a quarter of their value through November. Watch this space for accelerating KTM woes as a 90-day reckoning with court administrators and creditors ensues.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 70.02 | +3.2% | -4.3% |
| Volkswagen | 83.40 | -0.4% | -8.4% |
| Pierer Mobility | 9.50 | -7.8% | -24% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.03 | -2.4% | -6.9% |
JAPAN — NO RESPITE
The Tokyo-Osaka Nikkei 225 market index continued to slide for a third consecutive week, albeit down by a much narrower 0.2%, as a Trump-inspired fear factor continued to grow. The four core Japanese motorcycle/automotive stocks we track all incurred losses.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1291.5 | -5.2% | -15.3% |
| Yamaha | 1300.5 | -2.6% | -1.8% |
| Suzuki | 1586.5 | -3.1% | +7.5% |
| Kawasaki | 5536 | -11.9% | -3.3% |
INDIA — BIKES OUT OF FAVOUR
Mumbai market indices — S&P’s BSE Sensex 30 and the NSE Nifty 50 — rose in unison by 0.9%. However, share price movements among India’s five motorcycling majors weren’t a pretty picture. Only Norton parent TVS Motor flaunted weekly progress, of a mere 0.8%. And on a monthly basis, Mahindra was the sole claimant of shiny-side-up status. The fact that it makes far more agricultural tractors and SUVs than motorcycles is relevant.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 4761.70 | -0.7% | -5.2% |
| Bajaj Auto | 9033.65 | -4.7% | -8.5% |
| TVS Motor | 2434.45 | +0.8% | -3% |
| Eicher Motors | 4831.85 | -3.1% | -2.5% |
| Mahindra | 2966.10 | -1.6% | +5.3% |
CHINA — MUSK MUSIC
Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Shanghai-Shenzhen CSI 300 blue-chip market indices turned positive, respectively rising by 1.8% and 1.3%. Perhaps investors had put two and two together. Not only is global richest man Elon Musk’s Tesla EV manufacturing operation in China a major contributor to the Chinese economy, but Tesla is also the largest EV manufacturer in the USA. In addition, Musk is now US President-Elect Donald Trump’s official best friend too.
Drawing the obvious conclusions tariff-wise doesn’t take a great deal of effort. Almost miraculously, nine of the ten listed Chinese motorcycle manufacturers went along for a share-price recovery ride. Only Honda JV affiliate Sundiro missed the boat.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 16.49 | +0.5% | -1.6% |
| Zongshen | 28.35 | +5.3% | -6.4% |
| Sundiro | 3.77 | -1.8% | -2.6% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 13.64 | +0.6% | -4.4% |
| Lifan | 7.05 | -0.6% | -4.6% |
| Loncin | 7.86 | +0.1% | -1.6% |
| Linhai | 9.52 | +2.9% | +3.5% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 8.84 | +2.4% | +12% |
| CFMoto | 145.70 | +1.8% | -10.6% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 11.05 | +3.1% | +8.9% |