New sales figures for Maxis in France, 2014.

[Skutorr]

Well, their economy has improved and sales are way up over last year.

Now that the BMW line is three years old and established, let's see the 2014 first quarter sales figures for 500cc and up two-wheelers:

Suzuki Burgman 650 ............377 sold
Honda Integra 750 (NEW)......317 sold
BMW C650 GT.......................140 sold
Honda Silverwing 600............115 sold
BMW C600 Sport...................106 sold
Aprilia SRV 850.....................98 sold

Oh, almost forgot. Tmax 530...1,184 sold


After 3 years, the targeted Burgman 650 still has almost TRIPLE the sales of the C650 GT.
The targeted Tmax 530 has over ELEVEN times the sales of the C600.

What is BMW doing wrong? Marketing? Product? Pricing?
The brand-new Integra 750 sold more units than BOTH BMW Scoots combined. They have had their teething problems, but really? These numbers? I've ridden them both, they are better than THIS...

Bilan marché scooter 1er quadrimestre 2014 : Les voyants sont au vert (pastel !) - Scooter Station

 

[Dale]

In France you see 150 and 250 all over the place but not many Maxi scoots or traditional Motorcycles. The GT outselling the 600 go figure in a place where space is premium, that may be why the Tmax sells so well.

 

[Oldscoot]

I'd like to add that the BMW C series outsold the Yamaha Tmax 530 series in the United States by an incalculable percentage. So when are you moving to France? Bon voyage mon ami.

 

[Xian Forbes]

I'd be curious to know what Burggy sales were during the first few years. Perhaps it's as simple as not having a decade of sales to build on.

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[Skutorr]

Good points! Staying here; food too rich there...

Could be that BMW selling their scoots here was a brilliant move, in hindsight. The ONLY competition here is the Burgman 650 or Silverwing; not a lot of options!

The European BMW Scooter Forums show intense enthusiast engagement; but does it translate to market share in those traditional Scooter Markets? Hard to say.

Maybe if they had done an IMMEDIATE revamp like Honda did to the Integra 700 after the initial year (increased displacement, more legroom, lower seat, improved shift programming for the automatic transmission, TWO engine balance shafts in the bigger engine, better cooling, better color selection, and improved power, torque and mileage) reviews and customer feedback, their share would be much better.
Also, the Honda is MUCH LESS $$$ with a full automatic transmission...

Then again, for ALL of 2013 in France, BMW sold 2,198 R1200GS bikes and 609 C650Gt's.
http://news.motorbiker.org/blogs.nsf/dx/france-top-50-new-motorcycle-sales-in-2013.htm
Maybe the Scooter Segment is just an incidental component of their sales strategy?...

 

[Xian Forbes]

Maybe it's like the mini cooper. A "my first bmw" kind of thing. Only those of us who have extensively ridden the C know it's attributes fist hand.

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[Skutorr]

Xian, how do you "fist hand" a scooter? Sounds DANGEROUS!

 

[Xian Forbes]

Oh wow... Auto correct fail.

I guess to save face I'll go with this traditional scooter boy classic, The Soul Music Power Fist

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[Skutorr]

Classic! +1

 

[dascooter]

Don't you have to add the sales for the 650 & 600 together if you are comparing to the Burgman? There's only 1 model Burgman but 2 variations of the BMW. Closes the gap quite a bit if yo do that.

 

[SteveADV]

I'd be curious to know what Burggy sales were during the first few years. Perhaps it's as simple as not having a decade of sales to build on.

Yup, Product Distribution 101..at least for the high end products; lower end will flood the markets from day one. Dealer education (and acceptance of a new line that is "foreign" to their way of thinking), parts distribution metrics (oftentimes there can only be a guess as to what will be needed), obviously pricing, and plain old fashioned loyalty to existing brands (sound familiar) all contribute to marketing effectiveness for new product lines.

The figures are meaningless outside of any knowledge of BMW's forecasts.

Besides, France is full of frenchmen.

 

[Skutorr]

Don't you have to add the sales for the 650 & 600 together if you are comparing to the Burgman? There's only 1 model Burgman but 2 variations of the BMW. Closes the gap quite a bit if yo do that.

Nope. BMW targeted the Burgman 650 with the C650GT, and the Tmax with the C600Sport. All the comparisons in Europe are C600 vs. Tmax, and C650 vs. Burgman 650.