NMDA Autumn Dealer Attitude Survey shows general satisfaction with manufacturers

“The NMDA is pleased to see that this year’s Autumn 2017 Dealer Attitude Survey received a high response rate of 36 per cent made up of nine main brands. Participants in this survey were made up of 75 per cent of independently owned franchise dealers, and 22 per cent privately owned groups. 61 per cent were single brand dealer’s whist the remainder of 39 per cent were multi-franchised.” commented Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA).

The NMDA Autumn 2017 Dealer Attitude Survey, published today (Monday 13 November 2017), shows that the all dealer average when asked about the overall value of the franchise declined by 0.5 points to at 6.3 since the last survey in Spring 2017

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

The dealer/manufacturer relationship score average declined by 0.1 since the last survey in Spring 2017

• The partnership dealers have with their manufacturer scored an all dealer average of 3.3
• Piaggio Group dealers were more dissatisfied with the partnership they have with their manufacturer having reported a score of 2.1 since the last survey (where they scored 2.3) and fall to 9th position in the ratings chart
• Harley Davidson was the top scoring dealer with a score of 4.8, up 0.7 points from last year

Dealer profit and future profitability both declined in this survey from Spring 2017

• When rating the profit return by representing their franchise, the all dealer average went down by 0.2 points from 3.2 to 3.0
• Harley Davidson, KTM and Triumph were recorded as the top 3 franchises
• When asked about the future profitability of their business the all dealer average went down by 0.3 points from 3.4 to 3.1
• Again, Harley Davidson, KTM and Triumph were recorded as the top 3 franchises

Latham continued, “The average score across all questions was 3.2, down just 0.1 from the last survey. Overall this suggests that dealers are fairly satisfied with the business relationship they have with their manufacturer. The only two manufacturers who saw their scores across all questions improve were Harley Davidson and Honda. Harley Davidson saw a massive increase and stood out as the only manufacturer making significant positive progress in the eyes of their dealers.

“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. Particularly, dealers were satisfied with the introduction of new models and the timely settlements of warranty claims.

“With the declines in scores for certain key questions, there is still scope with certain manufacturers to develop their relationships with their dealer networks as some still fall well below average in many areas of the survey.”