BMW Motorrad can look back on a successful year in 2009 in spite of a very difficult market environment marked by the global financial and economic crisis. Last year 87,306 (previous year: 101,685) BMW motorcycles were delivered to customers which is equivalent to a comparatively moderate drop of 14.1%. BMW Motorrad has thus not only reached the target it set itself, but also achieved the second-lowest decline in sales amongst the competition.


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While the world market for motorcycles above 500 cubic centimetres was still approximately 1.5 million vehicles in 2007, it shrank to about 900,000 units in 2009. This corresponds to a market drop of around 40% in two years. In the crisis year of 2009 alone the world market declined by more than 30%. Despite these downward tendencies in the motorcycle markets, BMW Motorrad was able to grow in the European markets Great Britain and Eastern Europe, in the Asian markets of Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, as well as in the Middle East and Brazil. Due to its continued powerful product offensive, the white and blue brand performed outstandingly on other export markets, often expanding its market share considerably. In the seven important motorcycle markets of Great Britain, Italy, France, Spain, the USA, Japan and Germany, BMW Motorrad increased its market share throughout. This was achieved even though market sales dropped by 32% in the segment above 500 cubic centimetres. Compared to the competition, which lost between 20% and almost 50% of its sales, BMW Motorrad sales dropped by only 16%. In Germany, which is still the biggest market for BMW Motorrad, 15,833 (previous year: 18,112) BMW motorcycles were registered, representing a drop of 12.6%. In spite of this environment BMW Motorrad was able to defend its market leadership in the once again shrinking overall market (-14.5%) as well as in the segment above 500 cc. The BMW share in the overall market was 17.7% in December (previous year: 17.3%). In the segment above 500 cc the market share was 19.0% (previous year: 18.1%). Italy continues to be the second largest for BMW Motorrad. Here a total of 13,207 BMW motorcycles were registered (previous year: 15,342), a decline of 13.9% (market as a whole: minus 20.0 %). The market share of BMW Motorrad in the segment over 500 cc increased to14.3 % (previous year: 13.0 %). In the USA, too - BMW Motorrad’s third largest market - the market as a whole decreased by 41.6 %. Here 9,168 (previous year: 11,831) BMW motorcycles were registered, a drop of 22.5 % as compared to the previous year. However, it was possible to increase the market share over 500 cc by 2.0% to 2.6%.

Source: BMW Motorrad achieves 2009 sales targets in spite of difficult market conditions – strong sales for Husqvarna Motorcycles