As part of the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS), a number of legislative and non-legislative measures with wide-ranging impacts on the auto industry are planned. These include amendments which will affect how the REACH Regulation is applied.

In response to the consultation by the Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (CARACAL), the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA), the Japan Auto Parts Industries’ Association (JAPIA) and the Korea Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (KAMA) have developed a joint position on ‘essential uses’.

The CSS outlines that the European Commission will “define criteria for essential uses to ensure that the most harmful chemicals are only allowed if their use is necessary for health, safety or is critical for the functioning of society and if there are no alternatives that are acceptable from the standpoint of environment and health. These criteria will guide the application of essential uses in all relevant EU legislation for both generic and specific risk assessments.”

The determination of these criteria and the definition of ‘essential uses’ will have a decisive impact on the industry. ACEM, ACEA, CLEPA, ETRMA, JAPIA and KAMA therefore believe that it is of the utmost importance to provide a balanced and clear definition of the criteria for the notion of ‘essential use’, and that this should be one of the first steps undertaken as part of the CSS.

Documents available to download

Joint industry position paper - Essential uses of chemicals [PDF]

Press contact

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM Communications Manager
 
+32 (0) 22 30 97 32

 

Results for the full year 2021 show that the European motorcycle market continues to perform well, and is rebounding after the 2020 lockdowns trigged by the C-19 pandemic.

Motorcycle registrations in five of the largest European markets (i.e. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) rose by 7.8% compared to 2020. A total of 949,400 motorcycles were registered in the main European markets in 2021, compared to 880,700 units in 2020.

Almost all the main national motorcycle markets registered volume gains in 2021. Results were the reflection of the different levels of market disruption in Spring 2020, linked to the sanitary crisis.

Italy was the largest European market with a total of 269,600 vehicles registered (with a staggering +23.6% growth on a year-on-year basis). France, the second largest market, grew +8.5% (206,950 motorcycles) whilst Germany, the third motorcycle market in Europe, saw a decrease of 9.7% (199,100 motorcycles), partly compensating the extremely positive results in 2020.

The Spanish and UK motorcycle markets grew by 8.0% and 10.2% respectively.

Registrations in the six European moped markets monitored by ACEM (i.e. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) reached a total of 264,800 units. This figure represents a decrease of 5.6% compared to the same period in 2020.

Quote

Commenting on the current situation of the sector, Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General, said:

“The registration figures for the year 2021 confirm the recovery of the market, after the impact of COVID-19 in the first months of last year. If we look at motorcycle and moped registrations combined, the key European markets have grown continuously between 2019 and 2021”.

“Even more, if we consider the moped and the motorcycle segment separately, each of them had a higher number of registrations in 2021 than in 2019. This upward trend for 3 consecutive years confirms the attractiveness of our vehicles is well present, even in the current context, both as urban mobility solutions and as leisure opportunities.

Documens available to download

ACEM - Statistical press release - January - December 2021 [PDF]

ACEM - Statistical press release - January - December 2021 [XLS]

ACEM - Statistical releases - FAQ [PDF]

ACEM - Statistical releases - Glossary [PDF]

Press contact

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM communications manager
E.  
T. +32 22 30 97 32

 

 

 

Traffic noise is one of the four challenges identified and addressed in the ACEM “Vision 2030+ The motorcycle industry’s vision towards sustainable mobility in Europe”. The motorcycle industry accepts its share of the responsibility, and continues its proactive role in enhancing the effectiveness of noise emission regulations, whilst calling for a multi-stakeholder approach to prevent excessive motorcycle noise.

Scrutinising the 2017 “Euro 5 sound level limits of L-category vehicles” EC study

In 2016/2017, in the context of the revision of the EU type approval framework for L-category vehicles, the European Commission mandated a consortium of experts (Emisia, HSDAC, TNO, and Ricardo) to carry out a study investigating the potential for new sound limits for L-category vehicles at Euro 5 step, including a justified proposal with a Cost-Benefit Analysis of new sound limits options.

Considering the content of the report, the low number of vehicles tested and most importantly the relative lack of robustness of some of the conclusions, ACEM decided to task independent and recognised experts in both CBA and sound emissions to scrutinise the Cost-Benefit Analysis of the 2017 study.

The review performed in 2021 has been compiled in a scientific and objective manner, led by the Impact Assessment Institute (IAI), a Brussels-based foundation that impartially scrutinises the evidence for policy-making. The technical elements of the work have been conducted by Acustica, a specialist independent acoustics engineering consultancy firm.

In order to best support the work of the IAI and Acustica, ACEM also mandated Graz University of Technology to carry out an experimental study on the actual status of noise emitted from 8 powered-two wheelers. This study assessed the major noise sources according to their contribution to the overall level of pass-by noise for these vehicles (i.e. intake noise, engine noise, exhaust noise and overall noise) and was carried out by conducting measurements according to the standardized pass-by noise measurement procedure as regulated by UNECE-R 41.04.

ACEM takes

ACEM welcomes the conclusions of this independent scrutiny study as it demonstrates that a 2dB limit reduction would be technically and economically very challenging for manufacturers.

ACEM also trusts that this thorough work will once and for all put aside any ambition to reduce limits by 5dB, a scenario that is simply unrealistic.

ACEM looks forward to the conclusion of the work currently underway by Applus IDIADA and ACASA for the European Commission, to support the European Commission on the Impact Assessment of its future proposal for new sound level limits.

ACEM calls on all stakeholders, the Member States and the European Commission to review the IAI/Acustica and TU Graz reports, and on the European Commission, Applus IDIADA and ACASA, to duly consider their content and findings in order to avoid any shortcomings in the current policy-making preparatory phases that would lead to ill-advised policy recommendations.

Documents available to download

ACEM paper - ACEM welcomes conclusions of the EC Cost Benefit Analysis scrutiny study performed by independent researchers [PDF]

IAI and Acustica - CBA study on Euro 5 sound limits for L-category vehicles [PDF]

TUGraz - Experimental Noise Source Ranking [PDF]

Press contact

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM communications manager
E.  
T. +32 22 30 97 32

 

 

In the first nine months of 2021, motorcycle registrations in five of the largest European markets (i.e. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) rose by 10.6% compared to the same period of 2020, totalling 792,819 units.

As expected, due to the different impact of COVID-19 disruptions in Spring 2020, almost all the main national markets registered volume gains in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, with Italy showing the biggest increase (+27.9%). UK, Spain and France also performed well, seeing a 13.5%, 8.7% and 8.5% increase, respectively, while in Germany new registrations decreased slightly (-4.9%).

The moped segment remained overall steady in the six European moped markets covered (i.e. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) compared to last year’s figures, reaching a total of 206,751 units in the first nine months of 2021 (-0,2% compared to the same period in 2020).

For a better comparison, considering pre-pandemic registration data, nine months into 2021 the European motorcycle market is showing signs of growth (792,819 units for January-September 2021 against 732,594 units for January-September 2019, representing a 8.2% increase). The moped market follows a similar trend: over the same period of time, with 206,751 units registered, representing a 6.8% increase on a year-on-year basis.

Quote

Commenting on the current situation of the sector, Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General, said:

“In aggregate, the registration figures for the first nine months of 2021 confirm market recovery after the impact of COVID-19 in the first months of last year, which had overall put the sector under unprecedented stress.

More importantly, the latest data confirms that powered two-wheeler markets in Europe have globally surpassed pre-Covid-19 figures, with significant increases for motorcycles and for mopeds.”

“These interim 2021 results could have been even more positive, if it weren’t for the global semiconductor shortage affecting the automotive sector, and indirectly causing logistical delays for some motorcycle manufacturer’s production”.

“The last quarter figures will tell us if these trends are confirmed, but altogether, the numbers confirm that powered two-wheelers remain an attractive and convenient solution for mobility and leisure activities.”

Press contact

Ilaria Balloni. ACEM communications assistant
E.
T. +32 22 30 97 32

Documents available to donwload

ACEM Statistical Press Release - January - September 2021 [PDF]

ACEM Statistical Press Release - January - September 2021 [XLS]

ACEM - Statistical releases - FAQ [PDF]

ACEM - Statistical releases - Glossary [PDF]