Stephan Schaller (BMW Motorrad) is appointed new ACEM President, while Renault joins membership

March 21, 2013 - PRLog -- Hoofdorp (NL) and Brussels, 21 March 2013 – ACEM, the European Motorcycle Industry Association, today announced the appointment of Stephan Schaller as its new president, while accepting Renaults application for membership. Based in Brussels, ACEM, is the organisation representing the manufacturers of motorcycles, scooters, tricycles and quadricycles at European level.

Born in 1957 in Erbach, Germany, Mr Schaller succeeds Hendrik von Kuenheim who successfully served as ACEM President since 2011. Mr Schaller has over 30 years experience in the automotive sector. Since 2012 he is serving as President of BMW Motorrad, a business division of BMW Group.

Mr Schaller stated: “Our mission consist in promoting the benefits of scooters, motorcycles and other light vehicles in terms of energy efficiency and quality of life. Motorcycle manufacturers are mobility providers and as such deserve a full recognition in transport policies. 37 million Powered Two-Wheelers circulate in Europe. A growing number of European citizens use PTWs on a daily basis to beat the traffic and find a parking place in city centres, both for private and professional use.”

The Motorcycle Industry in Europe is facing an unprecedentedly difficult market environment. Due to the global economic crisis the European market has shrunk by 48% since the fourth quarter of 2008.

ACEM’s new President further noted that “over recent years the European Motorcycle Industry has done much to respond to the pressing challenges posed by the economic crisis, with the aim of moving towards greener and safer mobility while returning to sustainable job-creating growth. Much has been accomplished, however, the stagnation of economic activity forecast for 2013 and the unacceptably high levels of unemployment in the EU emphasise how crucial it is to accelerate efforts to support European manufacturing as a matter of priority while pursuing a coherent European transport policy based on clean, efficient and smart mobility.”

“ACEM”, Schaller continues, “calls for the swift implementation of policies announced by the European Commission, in particular as regards initiatives supporting the European automotive industry  and the EU-funded R&D projects. ACEM Members are determined to seize these opportunities, offering users ever more innovative vehicles meeting their growing need for mobility and leisure.”

The ACEM General Assembly also welcomed Renault in its membership. With its electric quadricyle, the Twizy, car manufacturer Renault entered the ultra-compact urban vehicles segment belonging to the L-category. Renault is ACEM’s 14th manufacturer.

About ACEM

ACEM, the Motorcycle Industry in Europe, is the professional body representing the interests and combined skills of 14 powered two wheelers (PTWs) manufacturers producing more than 30 brands, and 15 national associations out of 13 European countries, employing over 127.000 people. The aggregated turnover of the PTW sector (manufacturing, plus upstream and downstream activities) amounted to Euro 26 billion in 2010. Manufacturers alone account for Euro 7 billion. The members of ACEM account for 90% of the production and up to 80% of the European powered two-wheeler market. ACEM also represents main manufacturers of tricycles and quadricycles.

Press contact: Filippo Segato, ACEM Communication Officer, +32 (0)2 2309732 or f.segato@acem.eu.

More information, statistics and policy statements at: http://www.acem.eu/