NMDA Dealer Attitude Survey indicates steady improvement in PTW dealers' satisfaction levels

“NMDA is pleased to see a steady improvement in PTW dealers’ satisfaction levels with many important aspects of the business relationship with their manufacturers”, said Paddy O’Connell, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) commenting on the results of the latest NMDA Autumn 2021 Dealer Attitude Survey (DAS) published today.

The NMDA DAS provides an overview of Power-Two-Wheelers (PTW) dealers’ satisfaction levels with key business issues affecting the relationship with their manufacturers. The survey attracted a response rate of 24%.

Overall franchise value

The findings of the survey show dealers’ satisfaction levels with the value of holding their franchise stood at an average of 6.9 points out of 10.

• Triumph (8.8), Kawasaki (7.9), BMW (7.5) were the three highest-rated franchises
• Piaggio (4.7), Suzuki (5.8), KTM (5.9) received the lowest ratings

Profit return

Dealers’ satisfaction levels with their current profit return from representing their franchise rose to 3.3 out of 5 points, up from the spring’s 2.9 average. The majority of manufacturers who featured in both the spring and autumn surveys saw an improvement, in particular, Yamaha grew from 2.0 to 3.6.

• The top performers were Triumph and Kawasaki with 3.7 points and Yamaha, 3.6.
• Piaggio Group (2.6) and BMW (2.8) had the lowest scores

Additionally, dealers were also optimistic about their future profitability, returning an overall average of 3.5.

Ability to do business with manufacturers

The average score in response to dealers’ ability to do business easily with their manufacturers on a day-to-day basis was 3.3. This represented a small decline from spring’s 3.5 as a number of franchises experienced a decline in score.

• Kawasaki (4.1), Suzuki (3.8) and Yamaha (3.8) had the best ratings
• Piaggio Group (2.7) and KTM (2.9) sat at the bottom of the table

Paddy O’Connell, Head of NMDA, added: “PTW dealers have repeatedly shown their resilience, coping successfully with all the challenges presented by the pandemic, such as supply issues, and the overall pressure on businesses.

“Dealers have kept morale high and worked hard to boost riders’ confidence, with communications and ongoing support from their manufacturers playing a key part in this.

“We look forward to working with all PTW dealers in the UK to assist you with any issues affecting the relationship with your manufacturer to ‘ride’ the motorcycle market forward”.