NMDA Autumn 2016 Dealer Attitude Survey

The National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) has revealed the results of its Autumn 2016 Dealer Attitude Survey. Stephen Latham, head of the NMDA said that he was “pleased to see that this year’s survey received a response rate of 33 per cent. Over the last few years there has been a view that brands with a low percentage of dealer responses have not necessarily been representative of the views of that network, and could skew the results either way. Therefore, in this survey, we have decided to suppress the results of three brands that had less than 15 per cent of their dealers completing the survey.”

Latham went on: “Participants in this survey were made up of 83 per cent of Independent Dealers, and 17 per cent privately owned groups. 60 per cent were single brand dealers whist the remainder of 40 per cent were multi-franchises.

The NMDA Autumn 2016 Dealer Attitude Survey shows that the all dealer average when asked about the overall value of the franchise improved 0.2 points to 6.8 since the last survey in spring 2016.

• Harley Davidson, KTM and Triumph were recorded as the top 3 franchises.
• The least valued franchises by respondents were Piaggio Group, Suzuki and Ducati.

The dealer/manufacturer relationship score average remained the same as in the last survey in spring 2015.

• The partnership dealers have with their manufacturer scored an all dealer average of 3.4
• Ducati dealers were more dissatisfied with the partnership they have with their manufacturer having reported a score of 2.4 since the last survey (where they scored 3.3) and fall to 9th position in the ratings chart.
• Harley Davidson remained as the top scoring dealer with a score of 4.6 – down 0.2 points from last year.

Dealer profit and future profitability remained static in this survey from spring 2015

When rating the profit return by representing their franchise, the all dealer average remained at 3.2

• Harley Davidson and Triumph were recorded as the top 2 franchises.
• When asked about the future profitability of their business the all dealer average remained at 3.4
• Again, Harley Davidson and Triumph were recorded as the top 2 franchises.

Latham continued, “The average score across all questions was 3.3, unchanged from the last survey. Overall this suggests that dealers are fairly satisfied with the business relationship they have with their manufacturer.

“Dealers are on average most satisfied with the image of the brands they represent and products they sell. This suggests that dealers are brand patriotic and confident in how the consumer views their manufacturer.

“The business relationship with manufactures is on average most strained in the issue of target negotiations and the standards required given the returns dealers receive. These issues along with the relatively low scoring question of manufacture management taking dealers views into account suggest that dialogue could be improved.”