CFMoto on the rise: Plans for up to 30 UK dealers by 2024

[weeksy]

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new ... ure-plans/



CFMoto have big plans for the UK in 2023, with ambitions to recruit up to 30 new dealers supported by backing from Pierer Mobility – the Austrian conglomerate behind the success of KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas, and the WP Suspension brand.

It was announced in late October 2022 that KTM would take over distribution for Chinese firm CFMoto in the UK and Ireland from January 2023, with bosses now confirming plans for between 20 and 30 new standalone dealers this year, as well as more KTM-powered production motorcycles on the way.

“It’s already ongoing. We acquire dealers every day and we are really pushing to get there as fast as possible,” Managing Director of CFMoto Distribution, Christian Waach, exclusively told MCN

He has worked for KTM for the past 20 years and has valuable experience in helping to build the Austrian brand to where it is today.

CFMoto, meanwhile, were founded in 1989 and employ around 4800 people. In 2021, global revenue eclipsed $1.2bn and although final 2022 figures aren’t yet available, Vice President of European Sales, Markus Ferch, confirmed to MCN that 127,000 new bikes were sold worldwide across the year.

“It’s extremely important because what the customer needs is trust,” Waach continued. “They buy a product and think about the availability of spare parts, and the value of the bike in three or four years. If you have no support, then nobody will buy.”

Despite CFMoto’s growing business, they remain relatively small in the UK. Figures compiled by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) in 2022 revealed CFMoto’s best seller in the UK to be the £7549 700CL-X Sport parallel twin café racer, which netted just 21 registrations in the period.

In future, all new bikes sold will come with a four-year warranty and spare parts will now be stored at Pierer HQ in Mattighofen, with new dealers kept deliberately separate from other Pierer brands where possible.

It’s the latest step in a partnership that began back in 2013, when the Hangzhou firm began importing KTMs to China. A joint venture to produce bikes was established in 2017 and, going into 2023, the returning KTM 790 Adventure range will be built in China.

“I will be successful when a client in four years can sell a CFMoto and still get a good price for it, because then you know you did a good job,” Waach said. “Long-term, I would like to reach 5% market share.”

Unfortunately, despite the decade-strong relationship, the CFMoto boss was quick to confirm that all warranty and servicing work will need to be taken care of at a brand-specific dealer, rather than at a potentially closer KTM franchise. This is despite their larger 800MT adventure range featuring the 799cc parallel twin engine found in the 790 Adventure.

“[KTM] simply have no access to the spare parts. They have their own network, and they will not get the parts. We have two separate channels,” he explained.

[Mr Moofo]

I would love to the business plan and ROI for that.
I wonder what the long term vision is ? Are they hoping singlehandedly to get yoof back into biking?

[v8-powered]

Fella I know who owns a dealership has just taken on a CFMoto franchise, he seems to rate them - time will tell....

[mangocrazy]

If KTM aren't careful, they'll find CFMoto eating their lunch.

[Skub]

I'd never actually heard of them.

"Zhejiang Chunfeng Power Co., Ltd., commonly known by its trade name CFMoto, is a Chinese manufacturer of engines, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, quadricycles, quads, and yachts headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. It is well-known for their high-end motorcycle and ATVs".

[Horse]

If KTM aren't careful, they'll find CFMoto eating their lunch.

Concept


Delivery, for police


https://www.cycleworld.com/story/bikes/ ... lice-bike/

[mangocrazy]

It's a very delicately balanced game that KTM is playing. They give the Chinese sufficient information and access to IP such that they can build the smaller bikes (and now the 790s) to a suitable standard, but make sure that cutting edge and new design information and IP stays firmly with KTM in Mattighofen, because the Chinese have demonstrated that the concept of IP rights simply does not apply in China.

And I'd also make sure that their IT security is absolutely bullet-proof (if such a thing is in fact possible). While CFMoto probably wouldn't want to upset KTM, I'm sure there are other agents that would have no qualms about hacking into KTM's design secrets.

He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon...

[Bigjawa]

Are they hoping singlehandedly to get yoof back into biking?

That's never going to happen with UK licencing laws.

Don't think I'd ever trust a Chinese bike myself, my experiences with Chinese engineering is of badly made knock offs.

[Horse]

Are they hoping singlehandedly to get yoof back into biking?

That's never going to happen with UK licencing laws.

Don't think I'd ever trust a Chinese bike myself, my experiences with Chinese engineering is of badly made knock offs.

1. Isn't that what everyone said about Japanese bikes?

2. What bikes would you trust? ('Country'-wise)

3. How many manufacturers have stuff built in China? KTM & BMW for starters.

[mangocrazy]

As someone who was a teenager during the 60s and who watched the Japanese take on and almost totally dismantle the British bike industry (with massive help from the Brit bike industry itself, it has to be said), this feels very similar, but also rather different. The similarities are with an unregarded Asian country making its entry into the global motorcycle industry by first focussing on the bread and butter, volume end of the market with attractively styled and priced offerings. China are clearly following the Japanese model here. The response from onlookers is also very similar; back in the day it was all about 'Jap crap' and how they wouldn't last five minutes doing those kind of revs.

These days the same comments about quality are being made, but this is where I do see some differences. Japanese quality in the 60s was in fact very good. I owned a CB77 Honda that did over 50k miles without any bother. I also knew a guy who had the 250cc CB72 version and he used to bury the needle into the red all the time. From memory the red line was around 9000rpm - he used to regularly take his to 10, 11k even 12k on a couple of occasions and it just kept coming back for more. I really don't think the current Chinese offerings could take that kind of abuse. I'm convinced that Chinese metallurgy is poor, and lacks the in-depth experience that comes over decades.

But most important is the difference in Japanese and Chinese attitudes to copying. Yes, the Japanese copied what they saw as best practice, but the engineering was always superior to the model being copied, and also had some particularly Japanese add-ons and innovations. The Chinese don't just copy, they plagiarise. As I've mentioned elsewhere the concept of IP rights simply doesn't exist in China. Get the original, make a copy, flog it as your own. In that sense they are a far more ruthless competitor than the Japanese were, and that is seen in their approach to pretty much everything, not just
making consumer goods. Look at their treatment of all and any Asian neighbours, in particular Hong Kong, but also Tibet, South Korea Japan and Philippines.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

How to make a decent petrol motorcycle engine isn't intellectual knowledge, they teach it at universities round the world, the same goes for the chassis, KTMs current success is based on marketing, not engineering.

[Skub]

With modern material and machining,there is no excuse for either poor quality or anything less than bulletproof reliability,yet how often to we hear of shoddy build and bikes with constant problems. For a lot of the current market dominators,standards can be lax at times. If they become complacent,then the Chinese will hammer them in the same way the Japanese biffed the British bike industry.

As the good books says,'woe to them at ease in Zion'.

[Bigjawa]

Are they hoping singlehandedly to get yoof back into biking?

That's never going to happen with UK licencing laws.

Don't think I'd ever trust a Chinese bike myself, my experiences with Chinese engineering is of badly made knock offs.

1. Isn't that what everyone said about Japanese bikes?

2. What bikes would you trust? ('Country'-wise)

3. How many manufacturers have stuff built in China? KTM & BMW for starters.

1. What "they said" and the reality were vastly different. Having seen plenty of frankly shite Chinese "Engineering" in my working life, comparing the innovative engineering of Japan to bargain basement knock offs is ludicrous. Ever had to explain to a new rider that his 1200 mile old Kaiser CBR 125 knock off is fit for the bin? The kid had to go legal to get his money back, he just bought a car after that.

2. I only buy bikes with a proven reliability record now, unless they're very cheap and I'm putting it up the road immediately. I have two bikes with over 100k on each of them, one with 94k, one with 65k and one with just under 40k. They're all built in Japan or Berlin. I might be interested in a Korean bike if they prove themselves to be as good as the cars though. Funny enough, the last Chinese car I had the misfortune to come across was one of those MG monstrosities, I had to modify a French clutch to fit it as the OE Chinese one was junk. It was the dealer who brought it to me as there was no OEM parts available through the warranty system.

3. I don't know and I don't care, I have no interest in anything KTM build and no interest in the cheaper BMWs. I'm at the stage now where my bike buying is much less frequent and will probably be something already out there, if I bother at all.

[Bigjawa]

With modern material and machining,there is no excuse for either poor quality or anything less than bulletproof reliability,yet how often to we hear of shoddy build and bikes with constant problems. For a lot of the current market dominators,standards can be lax at times. If they become complacent,then the Chinese will hammer them in the same way the Japanese biffed the British bike industry.

As the good books says,'woe to them at ease in Zion'.

Generally though, if the usual suspects make a cock up, they outdo themselves to put it right, like the whole VF/VFR shambles, it's also why I generally buy things that have been around for a few years, they'll have ironed out the problems. But how many problems are electrical? And who makes the majority of electrical stuff these days?

[Skub]

Generally though, if the usual suspects make a cock up, they outdo themselves to put it right, like the whole VF/VFR shambles, it's also why I generally buy things that have been around for a few years, they'll have ironed out the problems. But how many problems are electrical? And who makes the majority of electrical stuff these days?

We'll get a dose more of that when we are running about on battery bikes.

[Bigjawa]

Generally though, if the usual suspects make a cock up, they outdo themselves to put it right, like the whole VF/VFR shambles, it's also why I generally buy things that have been around for a few years, they'll have ironed out the problems. But how many problems are electrical? And who makes the majority of electrical stuff these days?

We'll get a dose more of that when we are running about on battery bikes.

I'll have packed it in by then.

[mangocrazy]

Generally though, if the usual suspects make a cock up, they outdo themselves to put it right, like the whole VF/VFR shambles, it's also why I generally buy things that have been around for a few years, they'll have ironed out the problems. But how many problems are electrical? And who makes the majority of electrical stuff these days?

We'll get a dose more of that when we are running about on battery bikes.

I'll have packed it in by then.

Likewise. I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I won't be buying an electric bike. Electric car, not so sure.

[Skub]

Generally though, if the usual suspects make a cock up, they outdo themselves to put it right, like the whole VF/VFR shambles, it's also why I generally buy things that have been around for a few years, they'll have ironed out the problems. But how many problems are electrical? And who makes the majority of electrical stuff these days?

We'll get a dose more of that when we are running about on battery bikes.

I'll have packed it in by then.

I'll probably have packed in life by then.