On the Money
On the Money I
was cheerfully surprised by the degree to which I enjoyed a three-day stint at the Motorcycle Live industry extravaganza in November. However, pleasure taken from this sojourn differed wildly from that of the 90,000-odd bike enthusiasts who paid to gain NEC entry. Indeed, seeing so many of them crammed into one place only served as a reminder that our consumer base is now generally middle-aged or even older, and predominantly male. Tyre kickers, self-evidently, no longer have the stamina of youth. At least a sufficient number can still open capacious wallets. For how much longer is debatable. But they weren’t alone in the age anxiety stakes. My own motivation for being there was a prime opportunity to meet up with many of the good ol’ boys I’ve known during a professional lifetime interfacing with the motorcycle trade, rather than getting a respectable job. And I wasn’t disappointed. Luckily, few seem to have “passed under the chequered flag” since the last time NEC socialisation on such scale was on the cards. The more senior citizens among this throng (yours truly included) are either retired or part-timers now. Cruel wisecracks were also aimed at my “borrowedtime” status, once I confessed to the unlikely achievement of
acknowledging a 72nd birthday at the show. And then there were plenty of veteran workaholics around, trade superstars like Gavin McCaffery and Jimmy Aird, the former now purveying Shad luggage for Pure Moto and the latter measuring punters for his bespoke Scott leathers. They’ll be the “last men standing” of our generation.
Apparently a swansong appearance, he was already preparing for another dose of wanderlust. My conversation with Pinto on the BSA stand was soon interrupted by an even greater legend, when Bruno Tagliaferri hove into view. A salesman extraordinaire, Bruno cut his teeth at the Motor Cycle
Seeing so many of them crammed into one place only served as a reminder that our consumer base is now generally middle-aged or even older, and predominantly male Casual “whatever happened to…” questions were swiftly answered. In the case of Roy Pinto, it was: “He’s just over there.” For those of you who don’t know him, Pinto has worn more marketing shirts than most of us have had hot dinners. When I first met him, he was an enthusiastic exponent of Harley-Davidson Europe wares. His CV subsequently swerved through Triumph, Kawasaki and even electric pioneer Zero. I’m sure there were others I’ve forgotten. At this year’s NEC show, Roy was sporting a bornagain BSA badge, extolling the virtues of curried Gold Star replicants courtesy of Mahindra.
Association in Coventry almost half a century ago, before jumping ship to Honda’s Chiswick HQ. There, under the often quixotic but nevertheless groundbreaking leadership of Eric Sulley, he rose to the rank of marketing services manager in a team that came to utterly dominate the UK motorcycle market. A fixture at Honda for 12 years, Tagliaferri was subsequently head-hunted in 1990 by John Bloor as relaunched Triumph’s UK national sales manager, a post he held for almost 30 years before finally retiring in 2019. I couldn’t imagine finding a better companion for a shared afternoon lap of Motorcycle
Live. And for much of our time together, we were aghast at how much of the industry seems keen on pricing itself out of the market against a cost-of-living crisis background. Kicking off on the Triumph stand, Bruno was initially bemused by the fact that he recognised none of the personnel staffing its display, just four years since his departure. But we shared a knowing chuckle relevant to the feature celebrating 20 years of Triumph’s Rocket III flagship, originally styled by John Mockett. When the first version was unveiled, I had expressed my admiration to Bruno and cheekily asked if there was any chance of a press discount. He answered in the affirmative. A cardinal red Rocket III was duly delivered to my local Triumph dealership in the spring of 2004, two and a half thousand quid off list. As you do, I also claimed the VAT back. Last laugh is that, decades later, I still own the bike. Passing from stand to stand, our opinions on over-pricing coincided. At least Triumph, with its 660 triple and now 400 single platforms, is on the side of budget righteousness. New cost-conscious 750/800 twins from Honda and Suzuki tick the boxes too. But BMW Motorrad’s eye-bleedingly extreme attitude to retail economy, with a plethora
International Share Prices USA – AND RELAX…
EUROPE – ON A PROMISE
November’s Wall Street stock rally took a pause moving into December, as investors played a guessing game on likely timing for interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Current favourite bet is on next May. The circumspect trading this engendered, characterised by modest swings between winners and losers, translated into lethargy for market indices. The blue-chip S&P 500 and S&P’s MidCap 400 finished on trivial 0.2% weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed dead flat. Only the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite showed signs of life, 0.7% up by knocking-off time on Friday. Among biker stocks, Harley-Davidson and Polaris topped the pile. Harley’s sparky spin-off LiveWire also made a minor advance. Textron fell, as did all NASDAQ electronic exchange chancers.
The Chinese government’s latest pledge to support its economic recovery and growth boosted European luxury stocks – including premium automotive players – dramatically. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 index climbed to a 22-month high and key national indices followed. Germany’s Xetra Dax in Frankfurt added 2.2% and the Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB in Milan closed 1.6% up. Across these markets, BMW, Ducati parent Volkswagen and Piaggio all made substantial five-session gains. But Austria’s Wiener Börse ATX only put on a febrile 0.2%, as the Austrian share price of KTM parent Pierer Mobility plunged by a double-digit percentage. Pierer had just announced the disposal of its loss-making Raymon and Felt pedal bicycle businesses, as well as a corporate strategy henceforth focusing purely
54
JANUARY 2024
on motorcycle and e-bike activities – with an accent on production in Asia.
JAPAN – BAD NEWS WEEK A revelation that Japanese GDP in the third quarter of 2023 fell by 2.9%, faster than initially estimated, severely rattled hawkish Bank of Japan policymaker cages. Investors began running for the cover of safe havens. The Nikkei 225 market index plunged by 3.4% over the week and biker stocks, afflicted by such weakening domestic consumption, all took a hammering.
INDIA – THE ONLY WAY IS UPBEAT Indian investors continued to wallow in hubris, driving Mumbai’s headline S&P BSE Sensex market index even higher, this time with a 3.5% weekly rise. But motorcycle
www.britishdealernews.co.uk