Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/288267
www.PowersportsBusiness.com NEWS Powersports Business • April 8, 2014 • 5 4 • April 8, 2014 • Powersports Business NEWS www.PowersportsBusiness.com www.powersportsbusiness.com Editorial and Sales: 763.383.4400 Subscriber Service: 847.763.9565 EDITOR IN CHIEF: Dave McMahon 763/383-4411 (dmcmahon@powersportsbusiness.com) MANAGING EDITOR: Liz Keener 763/383-4413 (lkeener@powersportsbusiness.com) SENIOR EDITOR: Tom Kaiser 763/383-4424 (tkaiser@powersportsbusiness.com) ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR: Christopher Gerber DIGITAL PRODUCTION EDITOR: Heather Brown SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Dodi Vessels PRODUCTION ARTIST: Kelsey Houle (khoule@epgmediallc.com) PRODUCTION MANAGER: Angela Schmieg VICE PRESIDENT/TRADE GROUP: Amy Collins NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Allison Gruhn 763/383-4467 (agruhn@powersportsbusiness.com) NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER Mark Rosacker 763/383-4433 (mrosacker@snowgoer.com) NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER David J. Voll 763/383-4421 (dvoll@ridermagazine.com) ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE: Barbara Reynolds 603/588-2086 (breynolds@powersportsbusiness.com) CEO: Mark Adams VICE PRESIDENT/FINANCE: Gerald Winkel VP/AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT & CIRCULATION: Joanne Juda-Prainito VICE PRESIDENT/OPERATIONS: Barb Hammer DIRECTOR OF MARKETING: Tim Morgan MARKETING SPECIALIST: Geoff Christ PRODUCTION SPECIALIST: Cherri Perschmann GROUP SENIOR SALES SPECIALIST: Bernadette Wohlman CONTRIBUTORS: COLUMNISTS: Steve Jones, Hal Ethington, Brian Gallmeier CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Heather Brown DEALER ADVISORY BOARD: Hooksett Kawasaki-Polaris, Jim Whalley; Hacker's Yamaha & Honda, Rick Hacker; Honda/Polaris of Lubbock, Morris Baker; All Action Water Sports, Ray Leps POWERSPORTS BUSINESS (ISSN #1522-7944) is published 15 times per year – monthly except twice in May and December, the Market Data Book in September – by EPG Media, LLC, 3300 Fernbrook Lane N #200, Plymouth, MN 55447. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN and additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: Free to qualified members of the motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, snowmobile and personal watercraft industries. Annual subscription rate is $56 per year for U.S residents, $76 for Canadian residents and $96 for residents in other countries. All paid subscriptions must be paid in advance and in U.S. funds only. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Powersports Business, P.O. Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. CUSTOMER SERVICE: Visit www.PowersportsBusiness.com, email PowersportsBusiness@halldata.com, call (847) 763-9565, fax (847) 763 9569 or write to Powersports Business, PO Box 2123, Skokie, IL 60076-7823. CANADIAN RETURN ADDRESS: EPG Media, LLC, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, Ontario N9A 6J3. Publication Sales Agreement #40012332. EDITORIAL: All manuscripts, materials, photographs and artwork submitted are at mailer's risk and must include self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage for return. Send editorial materials to EPG Media, LLC, 3300 Fernbrook Lane N, Suite 200, Minneapolis, MN 55447, 763/383-4400. No responsibility will be assumed for unsolicited materials. Powersports Business is a registered trademark of EPG Media, LLC. Copyright 2013 by EPG Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited unless expressly authorized by publisher. REPRINTS: For more information on e-prints or reprints from Powersports Business, contact Bernadette Wohlman, 763/383-4400 x2464. Printed in U.S.A. A Chinese powersports company and its related U.S. distributor have agreed to recall and replace fuel tanks that will better con- trol gasoline vapors in approximately 1,000 vehicles and take other steps to control pol- lution stemming from the illegal import of more than 12,000 recreational vehicles and highway motorcycles. These motor vehicles were manufactured in China and imported without the required cer- tification indicating that emissions would meet federal standards. CFMOTO Powersports, Inc., (a successor to CFMOTO America, Inc.) based in Plym- outh, Minn., and Zhejiang CFMOTO Power Co., Ltd., and Chunfeng Holding Group Co., Ltd., both based in China, will pay a combined sees less than 1 percent of its product returned due to factory defects. "Our quality is unparalleled," said Mark Larson, vice president and general manager of Fox's Powersports Division. Fox takes pride in its American facilities. In addition to the Watsonville plant, Fox also has facilities in El Cahon, Calif., and Baxter, Minn. The company's headquarters were moved from Watsonville to nearby Scotts Valley, Calif., in 2012 to accommodate growth at the factory. Fox is also building a facility in Taiwan, though that factory will only serve the Bicycle Division, bring- ing Fox closer to most bicycle manufacturers. Keeping the Powersports and Off-Road (truck) assembly in the U.S. provides Fox opportunities it wouldn't have otherwise. "The manufacturers that we deal with are so competitive that one of our main points of differentiation from some of our competitors is being able to react to their requirements quickly, and we do that," Larson said. "That's why we set up Baxter, for example. We wanted to have a hub where we could be within a four-hour drive of one of our customers for testing reasons, for joint tuning trips, if they so want us there." Fox's OEM clients include Arctic Cat, BRP, John Deere, Kawasaki, Polaris, Indian and Yamaha — most of which assemble their vehi- cles in North America. Because of that, Fox not only assembles all of its powersports shocks in the U.S., but the company has also begun machining more of its own components. The machine shop in California, for example, runs 24 hours per day seven days per week pushing out core parts for the shock absorbers. "What we found is when we started bring- ing some of our core production back to Cali- fornia into our machine shop, for example, where we're making machined parts, that turn- around time is quicker, and that turnaround time led to additional business gains, which led to more opportunities, which led to quicker turnaround times, which led to more business gains, and we just said, 'Wow, it's easier just to have some of those core parts built here,'" Larson explained. Shorter turnaround time allows Fox to build quick prototypes for OEMs, allowing the manufacturers to get their products — and dif- ferent variations of each machine with different shock packages — out to the public swiftly. That, along with Fox's tuning expertise, draws big OEM clients to the company. "We go race every weekend, and we tune at every race track every single weekend. Off-Road, there's 70 events per year; Power- sports there's 56, give or take, and at each of those events, we have tuners that try to get that racer onto the podium," Larson said. "Those same guys in each of their respective markets are the same guys that go tune with the OEMs to get that vehicle as good as it can be, so not only do we learn how to tune on the weekends, we apply that knowledge to the OE testing in the field." Because of Fox's extensive race testing, the company has been able to trim many five-day OEM test sessions down to two, saving time and money for both companies. In addition to race day testing, Fox also experiments in the aftermarket. Though the OEM business represents a larger portion of Fox's business, the aftermarket allows the company to build its brand and try new shock concepts. "The aftermarket drives everything. That's what creates the brand. The aftermarket as a component to sales is smaller than the OE component, but the only reason I think we have OE business is because we have a strong aftermarket," Larson said. Oftentimes Fox tries new ideas in the after- market segment, and the OEMs add the shocks to their models after seeing them in action. Customers are also welcome to send their Fox shocks that come factory back to Fox for upgrades, instead of having to buy a new set. In both aftermarket and the OEM side, the Powersports segment is performing well. Side-by-sides, not surprisingly, have been the biggest drivers of the growth. And though the bicycle division is Fox's biggest, the company sees the most opportunity in motorized vehicles. "We think between Off-Road and Power- sports, which we called powered vehicles, we think that has the most potential for growth in the future," Larson said. PSB FOX CONTINUED FROM COVER FOX MUSEUM PHOTOS Dan Robbins, corporate marketing manager of Fox, gave PSB managing editor Liz Keener a tour of the Fox museum at the company's headquarters in Scotts Valley, Calif. The museum, which was built when Fox moved its HQ in 2012, chronicles the company from Bob Fox's first prototype shocks to the current product, racing activities and more. To see some of the photos from Liz's visit, check out this story in the digital edition of this issue. If you don't currently receive the digital edition, visit http://bit.ly/1faJbHK to sign up. Diagrams showing each step of assembly are seen on screens throughout the line. A sign reading "Everyone is an inspector" reminds employees of Fox's Watsonville, Calif., factory to pay close attention to each piece they're assembling. EPA fines CFMOTO $725,000 for illegal import of ATVs, bikes KTM REPORTS RECORD SALES YEAR IN 2013 KTM achieved its highest sales numbers in 2013, with 123,859 bikes sold worldwide, including those sold by Bajaj, KTM's partner in India. Unit sales were up 15.6 percent in 2013, helping the company achieve a turnover of €716.4 million. Among the highlights for KTM in 2013 were the launch of the 1190 Adventure and the 390 Duke. KTM also earned market share of 8.5 percent in Europe, despite a declining motorcycle market on that continent. For 2013, EBIT increased 49.5 percent to €54.9 million. EBIT margin grew to 7.7 per- cent, up from 6.0 percent in 2012. The OEM also increased headcount by 147, for a total for 1,849 employees by the end of 2013. In 2014, KTM expects further increases in sales and turnover, as well as an increase in market share. The OEM plans to invest €68 million on new development projects and the expansion of buildings and capacity. The production capacity at KTM headquarters in Mattighofen, Austria, is planned to increase to more than 100,000 units this year. BMW FEB. SALES RISE 18 PERCENT BMW Motorrad posted record sales in Febru- ary with 8,098 motorcycles delivered to cus- tomers worldwide, an increase of 18.3 percent over the year-ago month. Deliveries for January and February totaled 13,536, an increase of 16 percent. "Following the successful start into the new year we have achieved a significant plus of 18.3 percent in sales in February. With a total of 8,098 vehicles sold, this February is the fourth record-selling February in company history in succession. Worldwide demand was satisfy- ingly high," reported Heiner Faust, director of sales and marketing at BMW Motorrad. The R 1200 GS remains BMW's best- selling motorcycle, followed by the R 1200 GS Adventure and the R 1200 RT. In mid-March, the R NineT and the S 1000 R were slated to join BMW's lineup. Faust added, "Expectations for the season are optimistic based on our customers' positive reactions and due to the successful sales fig- ures of the first two months of the year." COLORADO DEALERSHIP SOLD TO INDUSTRY VETERAN HyMark Motorsports in Pueblo West, Colo., has been sold to Chuck Golinvaux, formerly a partner at a South Dakota dealership. Jack and Connie Thompson had owned HyMark Motorsports, selling Polaris ATVs and side-by-sides and KTM on- and off-road motorcycles for more than a decade. HOT NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 P01x07-PSB5-News.indd 4 3/27/14 10:46 AM