A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 6 December 2024. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — TECH PROFITS TO THE FORE
US technology stocks provided the main driving force for Wall Street, thanks to waves of strong related quarterly corporate earnings. Market indices reflected the highlights with both the blue-chip S&P 500 and tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite leading the way with some record gains, respectively closing the week 1% and 3.3% up.
However, S&P’s MidCap 400 wasn’t so hunky, falling by 1%, and MidCap powersports shares mostly underperformed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also slack, incurring a 0.6% retreat. Anticipation of some dubious US jobs data due on Friday and lack of guidance from the Federal Reserve didn’t help the mood.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 33.03 | -1.3% | +0.3% |
| Polaris Industries | 63.63 | -6.9% | -7.7% |
| Textron | 82.66 | -3.5% | -5.6% |
| Niu Technologies | 1.90 | +2.2% | -11.2% |
| LiveWire | 5.40 | -10% | -18.9% |
EUROPE — STILL PICKING WINNERS
Despite weakening eurozone automotive stocks weighing on market indices, as both Stellantis and Renault valuations plunged, upbeat sentiment from European banking groups stiffened them with remarkable resilience. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax stacked on 3.8%, the FTSE MIB in Milan surged by 4% and the Wiener Börse ATX in Austria added 1.3%.
A muscularly aberrant weekly gain of 10.3% for BMW’s share price stood out against a similarly strong recovery of 16.8% for insolvent Austrian motorcycle manufacturer Pierer’s stocks. Who knows? A bail-out could already be under way, with “Motorrad Mobility” the forthcoming moniker in Mattighofen.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 77.24 | +10.3% | +14.3% |
| Volkswagen | 86.10 | +3.2% | -1.5% |
| Pierer Mobility | 11.10 | +16.8% | -10.5% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.09 | +3% | -1.9% |
JAPAN — MAKING FRIENDS WITH DONALD
Japan’s key Tokyo-Osaka Nikkei 225 market index changed its behaviour after three weeks of uninterrupted losses, suddenly climbing by 2.3%. Signs that US President-Elect Trump is reconsidering elements of his hostile stance on tariffs versus erstwhile allies took the credit. Shares in three of the four Japanese motorcycle brand leaders swung into positive territory.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1286.5 | -0.4% | -6.9% |
| Yamaha | 1312.5 | +0.9% | -6.2% |
| Suzuki | 1639.5 | +3.3% | +4.2% |
| Kawasaki | 6242 | +12.8% | -11.2% |
INDIA — BACK IN BUSINESS
After several weeks of febrile post-Diwali activity, India’s pair of Mumbai-based stock markets sprung into casino-style speculative life again. Their key indices, S&P’s BSE Sensex 30 and the NSE Nifty 50, woke up to deliver respective 2.4% and 23% gains.
Four of the five Indian motorcycle manufacturing giants benefited accordingly with share price rises. Norton parent TVS Motor and BSA owner Mahindra jointly made the largest recoveries. The sole loser was market-leading Hero MotoCorp, which had missed its Q2 target at the end of September and now has Honda’s wholly-owned (and unlisted) HMSI subsidiary chasing hard for hegemony.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 4629.60 | -2.8% | -2.9% |
| Bajaj Auto | 9099.90 | +0.7% | -8.2% |
| TVS Motor | 2521.55 | +3.6% | +2.2% |
| Eicher Motors | 4877.05 | +0.9% | +1.9% |
| Mahindra | 3073.00 | +3.6% | +3.3% |
CHINA — TRUSTING TRUMP?
Given the prospect of Donald Trump possibly tempering his tariff aggression, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Shanghai-Shenzhen CSI 300 blue-chip market indices therefore continued to maintain a positive streak, posting respective 2.3% and 1.4% advances.
Among the ten listed Chinese motorcycle brands, independent manufacturers Zongshen and Loncin were the only outright failures to take advantage. Honda JV affiliate Sundiro’s share priced flatlined. However, fellow Honda affiliate Guangzhou Auto made the strongest gain.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 16.95 | +2.8% | -4.3% |
| Zongshen | 27.19 | -4.1% | +2.6% |
| Sundiro | 3.77 | N/A | -2.3% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 13.94 | +2.2% | -10.4% |
| Lifan | 7.37 | +4.5% | -16.8% |
| Loncin | 7.79 | -0.9% | -4.7% |
| Linhai | 9.89 | +3.9% | +0.3% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 9.68 | +9.5% | +13.2% |
| CFMoto | 153.41 | +5.3% | -0.7% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 11.35 | +2.7% | +4.6% |