Half way through another challenging year for BMW Group’s motorcycle business, positivity is hard to find in an especially dense 69-page results document. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Six-monthly revenue from its Motorrad segment, compared to the same period in 2023, has fallen by 3.1% to £1.572bn. Related operating profit plunged, 30.8% down to a mere £182.4m. Operating margin dived to 11.6% from 16.2%. Net profit finished 31.2% lower at £128.3m.
The brand’s retail motorcycle and scooter output worldwide rose marginally by 0.2% to 113,072 units — precisely 201 more bikes plated. As you would expect, there was a bias towards Q2 when the sales season kicked in properly, equating to a 2.6% rise and 66,638 machines sold during April-June.
Typically, no broader details of specific Motorrad model performance or market destinations and penetration were forthcoming. Once again, that sort of information was reserved exclusively for the Group’s much larger automotive segment.
A distinctly bland motorcycling-oriented statement simply referred to a stable demand situation: “where deliveries are predicted to increase slightly, owing to the full availability of models including the R1300GS.” For what it’s worth, BDN’s own resources leveraged through MCIA data identified a 0.9% increase to 5674 UK-registered BMW products during the first half of this year.
Other than that, BMW peppered its text with dire qualifications. These ranged from “a volatile market environment in the first half of the year” through to “geopolitical tensions and trade wars having a sustained negative impact on market sentiment in general”. Ukraine, the Middle East and China were mentioned repeatedly too.
€-£ currency translation at forex rates appplicable on 1 August