Motorcycle sales slide continues

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released limited sales data for the first half of the year, with the 45,085 bikes, scooters, ATV and SxS models sold representing a contraction of 5.9 per cent over the previous corresponding period.

Road bikes made up the largest portion of those sales, accounting for 38.6% of the total, but the 17,432 units sold over January to June equates with a drop of 4.0% over this time last year.

The next biggest segment, off-road bikes, accounted for 37.4% of the total with 16,884 units sold. However, that figure also represents a sizeable contraction of 13.0% over the 2022 figures.

The off-highway vehicle (OHV) market, including side-by-side vehicles and UTVs, accounted for 18.0% of the tally, with 8151 units sold. This in fact represents growth of 7.6%, in what was the only segment to buck the downward trend.

That left the scooter market, its 2618 units accounting for 5.8% of the entire tally. That’s a drop of 6.3% on last year’s figures.

According to FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber, the motorcycle industry – like so many others – has endured a challenging first half of the year.

“It was significant to see that sales of road motorcycles exceeded the sales of off-road motorcycles during the first six months of this year,” he said.

“Also of note was the six per cent decrease in scooter sales compared with this time last year, noting that sales of scooters generally held firm during challenging economic times.”

Mr Weber acknowledged that successive interest rate rises and general cost-of-living increases were making their presence felt.

“We will monitor the broader economic conditions and the potential for them to impact on sales across each of the market segments,” he said.