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While everyone has been watching KTM's efforts to stave off collapse, some other data points have emerged about how the global motorcycle industry is doing and have gotten less attention. And not for the first time in recent months, it's a mixed picture.
Here are a few snapshots from some of the major U.S. and European manufacturers.
BMW booms, Ducati declines
One company with no complaints about 2024 is BMW Motorrad, which set a sales record by moving 210,408 motorcycles worldwide last year. Europe accounted for 56% of those sales, with another 8% in the United States, followed closely by Brazil and China. The big adventure models, the R 1300 GS and R 1250 GS, continued to be the company's bestsellers in 2024.
The head of BMW Motorrad, Markus Flasch, said that puts BMW in first place "in the global premium motorcycle segment." I guess that may depend on how you define "premium," but it's clear BMW is well ahead of other brands who consider themselves in the premium category, such as Ducati and Harley-Davidson. What's clear is that BMW's results were the brightest point among the sales statistics released recently.
The results weren't as rosy for Ducati, which reported global sales of 54,495 motorcycles in 2024, a 6% decrease from the previous year. "The result is part of a particularly complex competitive scenario and a global situation characterized by uncertainties on several fronts," the company stated.
The Multistrada models remain Ducati's bestselling line and Italy is still its top single-nation market, accounting for 18% of sales. The United States was next at 13%, though Germany closed in on second place with 12% of Ducati's sales. The U.S. sales number represented a 14% decrease from the year before.
Harley-Davidson slides, Indian idles, LiveWire low voltage
Multiple manufacturers are cutting back production because dealer inventories are too high and that's putting pressure on dealers. Harley-Davidson accelerated that process by reducing shipments by a significant 53% in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to 2023. Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Root said dealer inventories at the end of 2024 had been whittled down to a level lower than the end of 2023, thanks to the reduced shipments, and efforts to shrink dealer inventories would continue into the first half of 2025. At the same time, the company announced that employee headcount had been reduced by 7%.
For the year, Harley-Davidson reported a 7% decline in retail unit sales and $417 million in operating income, which was down 47% from 2023. On the brighter side, sales were up 8% in the most expensive categories for Harley-Davidson, the Grand American Touring, Trike, and CVO segments. The company's approach, under the Hardwire plan implemented by CEO Jochen Zeitz, has been to focus on profitability over unit sales growth.
Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson's electric motorcycle spinoff, LiveWire, reported more weak results. Despite introducing three new S2 models that are less expensive than the flagship LiveWire ONE, the company shipped just 612 motorcycles in 2024, a decline of 7% in 2024 compared to the prior year. It was also far short of LiveWire's guidance, reiterated in the middle of last year, that the company expected to sell 1,000 to 1,500 units in 2024. While LiveWire was expecting sales to grow with its new models, instead the trend worsened. In the fourth quarter of 2024, LiveWire shipped 236 motorcycles, a decline of 54% from the same period in 2023.
Indian parent company Polaris, which makes everything from snowmobiles to ATVs to boats, reported weak results, with sales down 20% in 2024 compared to 2023. But don't blame the motorcycles. Indian sales were flat in North America, where motorcycle sales overall declined slightly, and Indian sales in other countries were up between 25% and 30% year over year, according to the Polaris presentation. Indian credited the Scout line for much of the growth. Indian has expanded the Scout lineup, its most affordable motorcycles, to five models, while its much larger competitor, Harley-Davidson, has just three models in its most affordable Sport category.
Like other companies, Polaris reported that it has reduced production because of excess inventory that has built up at dealers.
KTM and MV Agusta part ways
Meanwhile, KTM continues working on its restructuring plan to dig itself out of the financial hole it created by overproducing motorcycles. As part of that, KTM sold its 50.1% stake in MV Agusta, which it acquired in two stages in late 2022 and early 2024. The controlling interest was sold to Art of Mobility S.A., the minority owner of MV Agusta and a company controlled by the Sardarov family of Russia. KTM parent company Pierer Mobility AG valued the sale at the "mid double-digit million range" in Euros.
Buying MV Agusta and selling it shortly thereafter for a loss while under financial duress is now practically a motorcycle industry pastime. Harley-Davidson did it in 2008 and now KTM has done the same.
Meanwhile, MV Agusta reported selling 4,000 motorcycles (a suspiciously round number) in 2024, more than double its 2023 sales. The company leadership used the year and a half under KTM control to strengthen the company's position and sounds quite relieved to be back on its own. "This strategic agreement ensures that MV Agusta remains completely uninvolved in KTM's ongoing financial restructuring process, allowing the company to continue its positive growth path," MV Agusta said in a statement.
2025 likely to be another sluggish sales year
Separately, the Motorcycle Industry Council reported that sales of new motorcycles and scooters fell 4.5% in 2024 in the United States. While companies always want to put a positive spin on developments, these European and U.S. manufacturers serving the developed markets are not projecting a quick turnaround in unit sales. Financial guidance generally calls for this year to be flat or slightly down from last year in sales — in other words, the trend is expected to continue.
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