Japanese bike sales through the decades
Japanese automotive body JAMA has released a report detailing the nation's bike usage and production since the 1950sWhile the global motorcycle industry may still be in the post-GFC doldrums, a report recently released by the Japanese Automobile Manufacturing Association, Inc (JAMA) has revealed the ‘bigger picture’ of motorcycle production, exports and usage in Japan since the 1950s – and it makes for some interesting reading.
Back in 1955, when Japan was only just emerging from the ashes of World War II, some 1,028,083 motorcycles and scooters were in use across the Asian nation, while by 1965 that figure had risen to 7,672,045. The numbers hovered between 8,000,000 and 9,000,000 for most of the ’70s but they began to spike in the ’80s – the last great global motorcycle boom.
The year 1986 saw a peak of 18,668,554 motorcycles and scooters in use in Japan, the number then dropping slowly through the ’90s, ’00s and beyond. While the GFC struck towards the end of 2008, the fiscal cliff isn’t represented in these ‘usage’ numbers, which have continued to slowly drop to 11,985,085 units last year. Previously, the last year in which domestic Japanese motorcycle/scooter usage dropped below 12,000,000 was 1980.
The report also details Japan’s domestic powered-two-wheeler production from 1950, the figures showing a steady rise to a peak of 7,412,582 units in 1981, a significant drop between 1982 (7,063,178) and 1983 (4,807,379), and then a more steady slide until the GFC. The impact of the GFC is clearly reflected in these figures: in 2008 some 1,226,839 motorcycles and scooters were produced in Japan, but in 2009 that number virtually halved to 644,901 units.
The figures for powered-two-wheeler exports by destination for 2012 also paint an interesting picture and firmly situate Australia as a major market for Japanese-made motorcycles. Some 30,924 motorcycles and scooters were exported from Japan to Australia last year, the figure right up there with Germany (30,925) and Italy (29,399) – nations with far higher populations. It might pale in comparison to the USA (166,601) but the report’s data puts Australia ahead of markets like Canada (17,564) and the UK (11,056).
Click here to view the full JAMA report.
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