Table 34: Production volume Powered Two Wheelers 2007, EuroStat data

3.2. Type Approval data

The data generated by type-approval authorities are a more market based source of information and can be particularly useful to assess the structure of the market because the type approval data indicates which manufacturers had a vehicle type-approved in order to place it on the market. Initially a sample of type-approval data from March 2008 to 2009 was analysed. Following on from that analysis, a large sample from January 4th 2005 to March 2009 was analysed to ensure that the results are consistent. This later sample involved over 15.000 type-approvals for vehicles.

The analysis of the type-approval data indicates a far smaller cohort of active companies who manufacture L-category vehicles and place them on the market, than that indicated by the EuroStat data. Having analysed in detail the type approval data from March 2008 to 2009, the analysis results indicated that 42 EU companies applied for type approval for an L-category vehicle. Of the 42 companies, 18 are Italian, 10 are German, 5 are French, 2 are Spanish, 2 Swedish and one each from UK (Triumph), Poland, Greece, Austria and Switzerland. However, further investigations yield the information that companies which are based in the EU sought type-approval for vehicles which they did not actually manufacture themselves, but they imported the vehicles from China and then marketed and sold the vehicles in Europe.

Finally, of the 42 companies, we estimate that 17 are SME’s. The remaining 25 of the 42 companies are owned by large companies or large corporations. The analysis of the type-approval data is reasonably consistent with data recently received from industry (ACEM). ACEM have indicated that their estimate is that 106 companies manufacture motorcycles. This figure of 106 includes non-EU companies from Japan, China, Thailand and the United States.

Having analysed the data for one year above, a larger sample was analysed covering the timeframe January 4th 2005 to March 2009. Since 2005, approximately 280 EU companies sought type approval to place a vehicle on the market. This results in an average of 56 companies per year. Consequently it was estimated that there are between 42 and 56 European companies manufacturing motorcycles in the EU. However, over the same time period, 398 non-EU companies applied for type-approval to place vehicles on the market. Among the non-EU, by far the most significant group were Chinese companies seeking type-approval.

3.3. Import and export of motorcycles and motorcycle parts

The following import into the EU and export from the EU data were obtained from EuroStat and extracted using the COMEX database from 1999 to 2008. The most significant trend is high and sustained imports from Japan from 1999 to 2008, from companies such as Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha, as shown in the sales data below. Following from Japan, the main imports are from China, USA and Taiwan. As mentioned above, the imports from China are often rebranded and marketed under a European name such as Hartford (UK) and Geopolis (Greek company). The value of imports from China and Taiwan has increased dramatically from 178.1 million Euros in 1999 up to 646.5 million Euros in 2008.