See some green fanaticism in the government

See some green fanaticism in the government

Mr. Fischer, you made a drawing last summer gloomy picture the domestic two-wheeler industry. Including bankruptcies and a sharp decline in business due to the lockdown. How did the year end? 

Ferdinand O. Fischer: When it comes to bankruptcies, we are in the same situation as the economy as a whole. It will only become clear from the middle of this year how many companies will not make it. When it comes to the sharp decline, one has to differentiate. Fortunately, the figures for vehicles developed differently than expected. Obviously, our customers, unlike car customers, did not allow themselves to be demotivated by Corona. Contrary to expectations, they ignored the lockdown phase and simply left the period behind. As a result, we were able to achieve an increase of four percent. Particularly pleasing: plus 10 percent for the 125s. I conclude that more and more drivers are discovering how to be sufficiently mobile within the city with a scooter: without traffic jams, with lower costs and environmental impact. There is also a good chance that the 125cc riders will switch to larger bikes over time and that we will be able to attract the customers of tomorrow. Unfortunately, when it comes to accessories and clothing sales, the situation doesn't look so rosy. That's where most of the declines occur. Overall, we see a very different picture: some retailers survived 2020 very well, others unfortunately not. There is a trend towards larger retailers who are coping with the crisis much better than smaller ones.

Speaking of the environment. You have it at the beginning of December planned NoVA increase (which also affects two-wheelers) is strongly condemned. What is going wrong politically when the strong automobile and two-wheeler industry is obviously not being heard?

The former business party ÖVP has made a disastrous deal with the Greens, which is not official but obviously exists, which means: We won't interfere with you on your issues, and you won't interfere with us on ours. Now we are seeing some green fanaticism in government. And fanaticism has never achieved anything positive. Reason must now take over again and not just emotion. No sensible person has anything against climate protection! But when I hear that we want to become climate protection world champions, I ask myself: Know CO₂-Emissions a limit bar? Climate protection is a global problem that we cannot solve for the whole world as a small Austria. Of course we have to make our contribution, but it should occur in a healthy balance between business and environmental protection - and that is not the case in Austria! Two-wheelers only emit half the CO₂ compared to a car. Two-wheelers take up much less parking space in cities than cars, but the NoVA increase still hits bikers with full force instead of relieving the burden on this more ecological vehicle. This is completely illogical and rationally incomprehensible. 

What else can you do now? 

I wonder that too. The government, especially the junior partner, makes – as mentioned – decisions on transport issues not rationally but ideologically. We try to voice our concerns in conversations and through the media and back them up with rational arguments. Unfortunately, the successes are more than manageable; in some cases we are not even listened to. There were those in the summer largest motorcycle demonstration for decades. The motorcyclists feel neither heard nor understood. 850,000 Austrians own a motorized two-wheeler and the industry generates around 2.9 billion euros per year or 0.89 percent of GDP and secures 41,000 jobs in Austria. If all else fails, we will hit the streets again, together with the two-wheeler riders. We have no other options if we don't get through to our concerns.

Will this year be as successful for the two-wheeler trade as 2020?

Now that we know better what makes our customers tick, we can hope for a good year for two-wheelers in 2021, at least when it comes to vehicle sales. The economic post-Corona aspect remains uncertain: How many of our customers are affected by short-time work or job losses due to insolvencies? Do you still have enough money for the finer things in life? We won't be able to judge that until the course of the year, but we're looking forward to the new motorcycle season in a very positive way.