BMW and Triumph top the charts

The National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) has released its latest spring Dealer Attitude Survey (DAS) results. The biannual survey provides an overview of the motorcycle retail sector’s satisfaction levels in key business areas that affect the relationships dealers have with their respective manufacturers. “For the spring 2023 survey, the NMDA has joined forces with data analytics company, Metryx, to provide a new and refreshed look,” said Symon Cook, head of the NMDA.

Q25: OVERALL FRANCHISE VALUE

The survey revealed satisfaction levels with the value of holding a franchise averaged 6.6 points out of 10. Compared with spring 2022, this was a 0.3 increase, but it was a drop of 0.8 relative to the autumn 2022 score.

y Triumph, BMW, and Royal Enfield were the three highestrated franchises.

y Piaggio, Ducati and HarleyDavidson received the lowest scores.

Q17: PROFIT RETURN

When asked about their satisfaction with the profit return from their franchise, dealers recorded an average score of 3.0 points out of 5. This represents a decrease of 0.3 compared to six months ago and a return to similar levels recorded a year ago in the spring 2022 edition.

Bdn Overall Scores

y The top three performers were Triumph, Kawasaki, and BMW.

Q24d: ABILITY TO DO BUSINESS WITH MANUFACTURERS

When asked about their ability to conduct business with manufacturers on a day-to-day basis easily, dealers returned an average score of 3.4 – an increase year-on-year of 0.2.

y Triumph recorded the highest scores, with BMW and Kawasaki neck-and-neck in second.

y Piaggio, Ducati, and Honda recorded the lowest scores.

Q19a:

Dealer Standards

EXPECTED BY MANUFACTURERS.

The average rating dealers gave for the standards their respective manufacturer expected was 3.2, a slight fall compared to autumn 2022’s result.

y Triumph was again top, with BMW and Royal Enfield close behind.

y Piaggio, Ducati, and Yamaha had the three lowest scores.

THE FUTURE OF ELECTRIC POWER-TWO-WHEELERS

The NMDA introduced two new questions relating to the transition towards the electrification of the market. Dealers were asked to score the electric products currently offered by manufacturers, which received an average of 2.3 out of 5. KTM led with a score of 3.3

When asked to score their EV/ Plug-in product for the next two

For An Overview Of How

the UK’s biggest motorcycle franchises are assessed by their dealers, BDN combined the scores from the entire NMDA survey to create a ranking table.

In the latest spring survey BMW once again ranked top for overall score, but barely a whisker in front of Triumph, which was boosted by being the only manufacturer to get a five out of five score – for the brand’s image.

At the lower end of the table, changes at Ducati haven’t gone down well with its dealers. Its overall score and ranking years, dealers also returned an average of 2.3 out of 5. Royal Enfield, BMW and Kawasaki dealers were the most optimistic. Ducati, Suzuki and Piaggio dealers were the least optimistic.

Symon Cook commented: “With the motorcycle market undergoing continuous transformation, it is positive that manufacturers and retailers are continuing to operate and adapt effectively. The challenging financial climate has noticeably affected supply and demand in the market. However, it is encouraging to see average used motorcycles sold at an eightedition DAS high of 321 per site sold.

“We are still seeing the supply troubles that have impeded stock availability for motorcycle showrooms. This may have prompted the slight reduction in the scores representing the relationship between dealers and manufacturers for this edition compared to the autumn edition.

“Yet, when analysing the data year-on-year, dealermanufacturer relationships have remained similar, reinforcing our belief that the bike sector remains robust and is on a positive trajectory. Manufacturers and retailers must continue to work in a mutually beneficial way, and use the survey responses as a mechanism to see which areas may need improvement.” plummeted after being marked low throughout, but especially for product pricing and value, frequency of new models, and future profitability. It even received the joint-lowest score for its brand image, which must come as a shock to a company which markets itself on its racing pedigree and the styling and desirability of its road machinery.

Also suffering a hefty decline in overall score was Piaggio, although it didn’t drop any positions in the table since it was already occupying the bottom slot, its regular ranking.

WHILE MANY OF THE questions remain consistent year-on-year, new practices and technologies require new information to be gathered.

The spring 2023 survey included three new questions. The first dealt with the settlement of warranty claims, which saw Triumph coming out top and Piaggio in last place.

The other two new questions concern the provision of electric-powered machinery in the current ranges, and proposed models due to arrive in showrooms over the next two years. The first of these threw up some strange results, as although KTM and BMW topped the list, Suzuki managed to clinch third place despite having no ePTWs in showrooms. Looking to the future availability of ePTWs, dealers ranked Royal Enfield the highest, indicating that battery-powered machinery from the Indian brand must be due soon.

Selected results from the spring 2023 NMDA dealer survey compared with autumn 2022

Q8a

How does product price and value compare against other brands?

Q8b

How realistic is your target and bonus in terms of achievement?

Q9a

How fair is your manufacturer’s policy for machine supply and stocking?

Q10a

How you would you rate the brand image for your franchise?

How do you rate your brand’s retail sales incentives and promotions?

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your manufacturer’s warranty policy?

Q17

How satisfied are you with your franchise’s profit return?

Q18a

How do you rate the future profitability of your business?

Q19a

How do you rate the fairness of the standards your manufacturer expects?

Q19b Are your manufacturer’s standards realistic compared to return on investment?

Q23a

How satisfied are you that your manufacturer takes your opinions into account?

Q23b

How effective is your manufacturer’s retail finance program?

Q24b

How do you rate the quality of your manufacturer’s training?

Q24d

How easy is it to do business with your manufacturer on a day-to-day basis?

Q25

How do you rate the value of your motorcycle franchise? (1=low, 10=high)