Bike prices under pressure from surging Yen

The value of the Japanese currency the Yen is surging, a move which makes further hikes in bike prices likely for 2010.

Any increase in the value of the Yen reduces the amount the Japanese firm effectively earns from bike sales in pounds or dollars.

Shares in major exporters including Honda fell 5% on the news. Most exporters based their profit prediction on the assumption they would earn 95 Yen for every dollar (the benchmark currency) of bike sold. Each dollar earned is currently only paying exporters back around 89 Yen – a loss of 6.3% against expectations. Making that loss back would add £700 to the price of a Yamaha R1 if manufacturers were forced to claw back that loss on 2010 bikes, to give one example.

Further reading:
Honda | Yamaha R1