Ducati has plenty of reasons to smile after posting its highest monthly sales total in company history. For the month of April 2015, the Italian motorcycle company reported selling 7,309 motorcycles, besting its previous best month - May 2012 - by just under 1,000 units.
The total sales tally for April 2015 also increased by 29 percent compared to the same time period from a year ago, adding to a recent trend that also netted Ducati its best-selling quarterly sales total of 17,881 units sold in the first quarter of 2015.
Strong demand for the Ducati Scrambler , Multistrada 1200 , and Panigale 1299 were the biggest reasons for the dramatic spike in sales. According to Ducati, the Scrambler, in particular, has exceeded sales expectations since being released earlier in the year, even helping the company increase its sales total in its home market of Italy by a staggering 69 percent.
Ducati’s sales performance also improved dramatically outside of Italy. Spain was the big winner in sales increase, reporting a 54-percent growth in April 2015 compared to the same time period in the previous year. Germany was close behind at 52 percent, followed by the UK at 50 percent and France at 15 percent.
The attention and subsequent demand for the the three aforementioned bikes is made more impressive considering that the US, by and large the world’s biggest motorcycle market, has yet to receive Ducati’s new range of 2015 models. Once the sales totals from the US are counted in the next few months, the sales tally for April 2015 could end up looking pedestrian by comparison.
Why It Matters
Ducati should be thrilled about its sales performance in Europe given that a lot of other motorcycle brands seem to be setting record-setting sales numbers themselves. Either the industry is in the precipice of an unprecedented boom or there’s just an increased awareness and preference for motorcycles lately.
In any case, Ducati should see this is a sign to go full steam ahead with its sales strategy, not just in Europe, but more importantly, in the US. Interest in the Scrambler, in particular, is on an upward trend, and that’s not even counting the expected rush in sales of the bike when it hits US shores later this month.
I fully expect Ducati to take this recent sales success and leverage it to create a bigger network of clients and customers dedicated to the Italian brand. It’s a strategy that should give the company some head-way so it can move out of the niche shell it’s been in for a long time and into the mainstream market.
Ducati still has a long ways to go if it hopes to compete with mass market companies like Japan’s Big 4, but any opportunity it can take customers away from the titans of the industry is a chance worth taking.
Like I said, the company’s celebrating its record-setting sales numbers in April 2015, and rightfully so. But the bar is being raised higher and higher these days that it would be unwise for Ducati to shoot for bigger sales numbers in the future.
