November 5, 2008

Industry Update 11/08

I know better than to discuss politics or religion at a party but I have to say I am happy that the US election has finally taken place. Perhaps we can get on with things under more stable conditions. Funny how only moments after the Canadian election our strong dollar began to plummet and now moments after the US election our price per liter for gas started to rise.

I know, there is no direct connection or greater conspiracy but…

Now I’m looking at some interesting stats on Yamaha. The global revenue was down in the first nine months of the year (less than 4% but nonetheless down) mostly blamed on slumping North American and Euro sales. The company generated a nine month revenue of just over 13 billion USD or 1.3 trillion Yen. I can tell you one thing for sure, those clams weren’t harvested selling snowmobiles! Motorcycle sales were down in NA about 20% as were ATV / Snowmobile but overall motorcycles saved the day with similar increases elsewhere.

To put things in perspective Yamaha sold close to 4.5 million motorcycles in those same nine months which was up from the previous years nine month yield of 3.7 million bikes. Now where did all those motorcycles go you ask? Good question.

117,00 motorcycles were imported to North America and about 300,00 made it to Europe. That still leaves about 4 million and change elsewhere… read: Asia.  The forecast sees the year ending at 6 million motorcycles sold and 17 billion in the coffers. Not bad for a down year I guess. Now lets get back to snowmobiles. Last time I checked the totals it appears world wide sales for all sleds combined (that’s at least 5 manufacturers) adds up to about 160,000 units.

Let me see now 6 million bikes versus 160,000 sleds. That’s very humbling math for a former product manager! So where am I going with all this you ask? Well I really don’t know but the numbers are public and thought provoking to say the least.

I can’t help but wonder how the rest of the world views us here in North America, with our affluent, albeit aging population. We are consuming goods at a much higher rate per capita than most other countries and becoming extremely demanding with regards to our products and lifestyle.

To make matters more interesting we have developed a ‘system’ where-by we are not held responsible or accountable for our own actions more often than not. This clearly ties the hands of many would-be entrepreneurs as they try to market products through a quagmire of potential liability and risk exposure.

From a global perspective, I am willing to bet the golden fruit that used to be the North American market is getting very ripe on the vine. I sincerely hope the new administration in the USA can invoke some positive change for all of us. And for my American friends, please don’t assume I am taking sides here, I am not. Either party can invoke ‘positive change’ and I don’t know squat about politics and whose really driving the bus.

Being a ‘cup is half full’ guy, I’ll be patient and as I await the first freeze and some falling flakes I realize that snowmobiling has never been more important as a vehicle to escape from the world and put a fresh perspective back in my life …(even if it does cost me 2 bucks a liter.)

cheers cr

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4 Responses to “Industry Update 11/08”

1. Carl says:
   

   Season is changing, winter is coming. Snow will open up a new world of trail riding.

   Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Woot Woot!

   C.

   November 6th, 2008 at 9:19 am
2. Yellowknife says:
   

   Hmmm. Interesting numbers – no wonder corporations don’t look at sleds and go, “why are we funding this?”

   If we’re talking numbers, can you comment on a ball park of what Yamaha spends on research/product development/testing (like designning new sleds and testing them till they hit the consumer)? Since we are so demanding now and want the best 10 time over each year over the last, can you compare the research/product development/testing spending of today to say 3 or 5 years ago? Spending more with less profit overall as the cost to develop goes up and sales decrease?

   P.S. We’ve had 2 snow storms here, there’s 2 feet of snow on the ground (we broke a record for November already) and I’m thankful to be riding.

   Cheers,
   YK

   Hey Alan, I’ll see if I can cough up another bit of reality phlegm in another post about actual development costs… I think you would be surprised! cheers cr

   November 6th, 2008 at 10:41 am
3. Danny says:
   

   Isnt this a snowmobile blog?

   Yes Danny, it is. Apparently you missed the more subtle meaning of my rant. No worries however, the next post will speak to some new nuts and bolts and won’t require any deep reflection on your part cheers cr

   November 7th, 2008 at 7:54 am
4. Phil Molto says:
   

   Thanks for enlightening me and clarifying the marketing numbers CR. I’m sure glad Yamaha stays dedicated to this odd slice of their corporate pie.
   I’m not good with marketing numbers, the only snowmobile numbers I’m good at reading are: “3/4 full” or “185kph”
   Phil Molto

   Thanks Phil … 185!! Not bad for a free-air!
   cheers cr

   November 10th, 2008 at 12:52 pm

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