2010 half year motorcycle sales report

Figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show 48,842 motorcycles, scooters and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) were sold in the six months to June - a 12.1 per cent decline compared to the same period in 2009.

"This half-yearly figure shows some brands performing well despite a decline in the overall market," FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

Brands to record significant increases include Kymco (114.8 per cent), Buell (62.6 per cent), Victory (12.5 per cent) and BMW (11.9 per cent).

"There is an obvious softening of demand during the winter months but increases in interest rates in the first half of the year have certainly impacted on the market," he said.

Road bikes were the most popular segment in the marketplace recording 18,894 sales (10 per cent decrease) followed by the off-road segment's 16,625 sales (13.7 per cent decrease).

There were 8165 ATVs sold in the six months to June (down 16 per cent) and scooter sales fell 8.4 per cent to record 5158 sales.

"It is an extremely competitive marketplace at the moment with many manufacturers offering incentives for riders to trade-up or buy their first motorcycle or scooter," Mr McKellar said.

"These, added to the already sound environmental and economic reasons to buy a motorcycle, should renew confidence in the market place in the second half of the year," he said.

Honda was the overall market leader with 10,554 half yearly sales, followed by Yamaha with 8889 and then Suzuki with 7079.

TOP 10 SALES

1    Honda  10,554
2    Yamaha 8889
3    Suzuki 7079
4    Kawasaki 4362
5    Harley-Davidson 3051
6    KTM 2203
7    Triumph 1444
8    Polaris 1432
9    Kymco 1158
10    Hyosung 963

Click on the following link to read the summary report.

Click on the following link to read the top 10 in each category.

BMW Motorrad sold 919 bikes in the first in the six months to June, an 11.9 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2009 despite an overall drop in the number of people buying new motorcycles.

The first six months of the year saw strong demand across the entire Motorrad range with incremental growth coming from the brand's recent diversification into new categories.

In particular, the addition of the high performance S 1000 RR Superbike has been key to Motorrad's recent sales success, according to Motorcycle Manager for BMW Motorrad Australia and New Zealand, Tony Sesto.

"The superbike, which is yet to lose a competitive comparison, is challenging some pre-conceptions about our brand, and is attracting younger, sports-oriented first-time customers.

"And with good buying opportunities on our other core models at present, we expect this growth to be sustainable, and to continue into the second half of the year," said Sesto.

Sesto said sales of BMW's iconic GS models have remained solid with the brand celebrating 30 years of GS this year.

"We have a well-established reputation in the Adventure, touring and sports touring categories, but with the success of new bikes such as the S 1000 RR, and exciting new concepts on the near horizon, BMW Motorrad is on an exciting journey," said  Sesto.

Honda sold 10,554 units sold across the various two and four wheel motorcycle segments in Australia during a continued sluggish period.

"The market overall has struggled to gain momentum due to the global financial crisis and numerous interest rate hikes, but Honda's results have remained relatively stable with models such as the CRF50F fun bike, TRX250 ATV, CB400 LAMS bike and SCV100 Lead Scooter continuing to lead their class," Hinton said.

"We have had some issues to overcome like most manufacturers over the past 18 months, however, rates have settled down and consumer confidence should improve paving the way to stronger summer sales."

"We are expecting to finish the year fairly well in a number of sectors including road bikes, and are pleased with how the first six months of the year has gone for us."

Honda produced five of the top 10 overall selling models for the period including the CT110P, CRF250R motocrosser and CRF230F farm bike.

"We recently introduced a few new models into our line up including the retro CB1100, the very affordable VT750 and variations of the VT1300 chopper which are all doing very well."

"For the second half of the year, we will be releasing an all new scooter that we think will be a big hit with the commuter market, and of course, offers all the Honda reliability and efficiency that our product development staff work so hard at to achieve."

"Rider safety is also our priority as always, and we recently opened a new HART centre in Cranbourne, Victoria as well as moved our Queensland operation to a more suitable site in Brisbane."

KYMCO
In the first six months of 2010 the Australian motorcycle market has contracted by 12.1 per cent against the same period last year, yet Kymco has again gone against the trend to increase total sales volume by a whopping 114.8 per cent, according to results just released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

FCAI results show that Kymco, while still in its early stages in Australia, owns an impressive 2.4 per cent of the entire motorcycle market. Kymco has been one of the few scooter manufacturers to post growth over the same period last year with 22.5 per cent sales growth in a market that has contracted by 8.4 per cent.

However, while the strong scooter result is further evidence of the rapid success of the Kymco brand, much of the growth has come from the incredibly successful launch of the company's ATV and motorcycle range last year.

Results released by industry data specialists ERG International shows Kymco achieved a national ATV market share of 3.7 per cent in June - on its one year anniversary in the Australian ATV market - to complement its 3.4 per cent market share result for the entire first half of 2010.

This result is predicated by an outstanding result in Queensland - Australia's biggest ATV market - where Kymco is already becoming a dominant player with a market share of 5.7 per cent in the first half of 2010.

The Victorian ATV results are also a fantastic story with Kymco grabbing 4.3 per cent of the market for the first half of 2010.

"Kymco has produced an exceptional performance so far in 2010 in tough market conditions to post an increase in sales of 114.8 percent on the same time last year," said Kymco Australia & New Zealand Chief Executive Officer, Stuart McLean.

"There is an increasing demand for Kymco products as people become more brand aware, and with the expansion of our dealer network and new models being introduced, we are certain this result is only the tip of the iceberg for our brand in Australia."

"Our product range is exciting and fresh, and we continue to offer premium products at terrific value…and more and more customers are realising this."

Making the amazing growth result for Kymco even more impressive is the fact that over 70 per cent of motorcycle brands lost significant ground on the same time last year.

SUZUKI
Suzuki Motorcycles has posted solid results for the first half of 2010, claiming a number of top selling motorcycles and featuring strongly in the majority of sales categories.

According to the recent sales figures released by the FCAI, 48,842 motorcycles, scooters and ATVs were sold in the period 1 January to 30 June, 2010, a decline of 12.1 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

"As this data demonstrates, the first half of the year was quite tough for many manufacturers, including Suzuki," Perry Morison, General Manager, Motorcycles, Suzuki Australia said.

"Despite the decline however, we still experienced promising sales across the board."

"Our ATV sales were up on last year, due to the new fuel injection KingQuad 400 series and the growing acceptance of power steering models by farmers."

"The fuel injection RM-Z motocross models also experienced high sales, due in part to the great product reviews and the racing success these models have recently experienced.

"The introduction of two new Suzuki models, the GSX1250FA and the RMX450Z, in the first half of the year as well as a revamped Bandit 1250 also helped drive our sales."

Suzuki was the only Japanese distributer to record positive growth in ATV sales, with the all terrain vehicle category declining overall by 16 per cent in the first half of the year.

The street bike range continues to perform impressively with a 3.6 per cent increase in sales in the past three months and Suzuki maintaining its dominance in the sports touring category with the top three best-sellers and five models inside the top ten.

Suzuki's GSX-R powerhouses combined to take top spot in the supersport category, headed by the top selling 600cc supersport machine, the GSX-R600, which is also dominating the Australian Supersport Championship.

Another strong performer from the first half of 2010 was Suzuki's off-road line-up, with the DR-Z400SM Super Motard named the top selling motard in Australia and the DR-Z400E continuing its dominance in the enduro category, claiming top spot with 608 units sold making it the sixth best-selling motorcycle so far this year overall.

The DR200SE Trojan also retained its number one spot from 2009 in the Farm category, with the hardworking, value-packed bike selling 280 units so far this year, well clear of its closest competitor.

Motocross champions, the Suzuki RM-Z450 and the RM-Z250 both recorded positive growth in the past six months, posting a 49.1 and 27.8 per cent increase in sales respectively.

Suzuki is expecting to maintain a strong second half with competitive pricing and retail sales campaigns, as well as the early arrival of many 2011 models, including the best selling RM-Z450 and RM-Z250.