Triumph Motorcycles Group has announced its financial results for the year to June 30th 2011, demonstrating a solid performance in a difficult global market.
Group turnover increased by 11% from £312.4 million in 2010 to £345.3 million in 2011 and unit sales of motorcycles increased by 7% from 45,501 to 48,684. This increase in unit sales can be largely attributed to the introduction of incremental models to the range.
The operating profit before interest and tax grew from £15.1 million to £22.3 million due to strong sales of motorcycles and related products, benefiting from improved use of working capital and continued focus upon the cost base.
2011 was another very difficult year for the global motorcycle industry. The global market (for motorcycles bigger than 500cc) is down almost 50% from its peak four years ago, decreasing by 7% within the last year alone. Triumph had a strong year in 2011 thanks to the effort from the Triumph team including our dealer network globally.
Triumph remains cautious in terms of the general market outlook for 2012 due to the continued global economic turmoil and the impact upon consumer confidence and in particular spending on discretionary consumer goods.
New models are extremely important in driving growth and we have been able to increase spending in our R&D investment during the recession, which continues to positively impact our business. This year, Triumph has already launched three new motorcycles: the Tiger Explorer, Speed Triple R and the Steve McQueen Special. Feedback from dealers, press and the public has been extremely positive.
Triumph North American Operations
The North American subsidiary was established in 1994. It serves one of the largest motorcycle markets in the world with a network of approximately 200 dealers.
In November of 2010, Triumph announced the appointment of Greg Heichelbech as the new North American CEO, the first time an American has held the position of CEO in the North American market.
With the addition of Heichelbech as CEO, a new market philosophy was adopted along with several organizational and process changes.
In the last 7 months of the fiscal year, Triumph outperformed the category, growing market share by half a percentage point. Turnover increased by 9% and retail sales of motorcycles increased by 15%. The increase was helped by the introduction of new models late in the selling season, but increases also were seen across the entire model range line-up.
Parts, accessories and clothing grew at a rate of 8% due to the introduction of several new core riding and seasonal items. With the release of the new Tiger 800, the range expanded with new adventure riding wear such as the all new Explorer Jacket; in the Heritage line with the release of two Lewis Leathers jackets; and in the Legends line of wear featuring clothing that pays homage to icons of the screen who had a close relationship with Triumph, Steve McQueen and James Dean.
The sales momentum continues as the dealer network supports the new changes, resulting in an increase in retail sales of 31% for the month of October.
The North American subsidiary is focusing on growing the business through increasing brand awareness, dealer profitability, and expanding the network footprint in key open territories.
About Triumph
First established in 1902 and now based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, Triumph Motorcycles is one of the most iconic high-performance motorcycle brands in the world.
At the heart of Triumph’s philosophy is a commitment to develop truly unique motorcycles that offer a blend of distinctive design, intuitive handling and performance.
The innovation and engineering passion that gave birth to the iconic Bonneville of the 60’s has today created a broad range of bikes suited to all motorcycle riders, including the striking 2300cc Rocket III, the unmistakable Speed Triple, the award-winning Thunderbird, the powerful Daytona 675 super-sports bike, a range of adventure bikes in the Tiger 800 and 800XC, and the newest addition to the class: the Tiger Explorer.
