Aussie bike sales take a hit

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has released its sales data for 2022, with total sales of 99,030 units across the road, off-road, off-highway vehicle and scooter segments equating with a sizeable drop of 19.8 per cent from the previous year.

While that’s not perhaps as grim as it might initially sound – a boom in 2021 actually saw the industry post a 13.4% increase over the 2020 tally – digging a little deeper reveals a mixed bag of fortunes across the major segments, as the industry weathers on-going supply chain issues and consumers tighten their belts in the face of soaring inflation and cost-of-living expenses.

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The largest segment, off-road bikes, accounted for 42.1% of total sales in 2022, with its 41,681 bikes sold representing a slide of 21.5% over the previous year’s total.

However, the situation for the next largest segment, road bikes, was somewhat brighter. The segment racked up 36,208 sales in 2022 for a market share of 36.6% – and a far more modest contraction of 2.8%.

The exit of multiple manufacturers from the ATV market continues to impact the off-highway vehicle market, which accounted for 15,825 sales in 2022 – a drop of 44.1%.

Bucking the overall trend, however, was the scooter segment. A total of 5316 new scooters were sold last year, which represents an increase of 10.3% on 2022 from a smaller slice of the market that last year made up just 5.4% of the overall market pie.

According to the FCAI’s Chief Executive, Tony Weber, the difficult economic conditions we are experiencing at present are affecting the bike industry, as they are just about all other industries.

“The rise interest rates has resulted in consumers tightening their finances,” he said. “Unfortunately recreational products are often the first items removed from household budgets.

“This, combined with ongoing global supply chain pandemic recovery, has led to fewer than expected overall sales in 2022.”

However, Mr Weber noted that the road bike and scooter segments were showing resilience amid the storm.

“More and more Australians are realising the lower fuel bills, easier parking and quicker commute times that come from two-wheeled vehicles,” he said.