The Yamaha Tenere 700 just outsold the BMW GS… in Germany!

The Yamaha Tenere 700 has just unseated the 'king' of the tourers - the BMW GS - on its own turf in Germany, as well as the UK!

Yamaha Tenere 700

It’s one of the most competitive segments in the motorcycle industry and one the BMW GS 1250 has retained a grip on in dozens of markets around the world but all good reigns must come to an end eventually and the Yamaha Tenere 700 has just dealt a significant blow to the king on its home turf.

Launched earlier this year, the Yamaha Tenere 700 may be a smaller displacement adventure sport but after being launched to positive reviews and a hitting the market with a competitive price, it seems to be resonating with buyers around the world.

We’ve already reported the Yamaha Tenere 700 was the new market leader for October in the UK with 115 sales that helped the Iwata manufacturer to a strong month overall that consolidated its second spot behind Honda in the sales charts.

However, it has now popped up into #1 in Germany and that’s a significance that really cannot be underestimated given it’s the home of traditional leader, the BMW GS.

It wasn’t by a small amount either with 310 Yamaha Tenere 700s being shifted over the 31 days compared with 242 of the BMW R 1250 GS. The Honda Africa Twin was third with 181 units but that’s a margin it will likely shorten as the 2020 model begins to gain more traction.

BMW still leads the way in year-to-date rankings with a 9,100 units sold, well ahead of the Kawasaki Z900 on 3045, which has just also received a big refresh for 2020 – you can read the full review right here.

Yamaha making gains in Italy too

Though the BMW GS remained on top in the Italian sales charts for the first nine months of 2019 with 3,875 sold, it’s very close up top with the Honda Africa Twin snapping at its mudguards with 3,527 sales.

In third position is the Benelli TRK 502 / X and the Yamaha Tracer 900 – another model that has just undergone a facelift – in fourth place.

In fact, three Yamaha models fill the top ten with the MT-07 and the MT-09 sitting seventh and eighth on the sales charts and are ranked as they best-selling nakeds in a country largely dominated by tourer motorcycles.