Oz Motorcycle market rebounds

The Australian motorcycle industry is off to a strong start in 2012, with the official numbers showing that 25,526 new motorcycles, ATVs and scooters were sold in the first quarter of 2012, representing an increase of almost 10 per cent (9.7).

This time last year the figures were not so good, with overall sales down by 1.2 per cent, so in comparison the industry has recorded solid gains thus far in 2012.

"This is a strong outcome for new motorcycle sales in the first quarter of 2012," said Ian Chalmers, FCAI Chief Executive.

"While it is still early days, the data is a promising indication that 2012 will be a good year for the motorcycle sector."

While most sectors within the motorcycle industry recorded gains - ATVs performed strongly with a 18.3% gain, road bikes were up by 14.5% and off-road bikes up 8.7% - the scooters market dropped by 14%.

The top selling marque for the first three months of 2012 was Honda, with 5731 units sold, which has recorded a 50% jump in sales compared to last year.

Honda Motorcycles General Manager, Tony Hinton, said "This is a fantastic start to 2012, not only for Honda but to see the whole market improving is really exciting."

"This start to the year is the best Honda has experienced in many years. To see customers supporting flagship models such as the CBR1000RR while also showing so much interest in brand new releases gives us a lot of confidence in what will be the pattern for the rest of the year."

Meanwhile Kymco has seen a similar percentage declines, as sales shrunk by almost 50%. It managed 929 sales this time last year, but has recorded 488 so far in 2012.

Yamaha was the second highest selling marque trailing Honda by about 1700 units in second place with 4034 units sold (down 12.6%), and Suzuki took out the final podium spot in the sales race with 3010 units (down 3.2%).

Ducati saw big gains, with sales up 44.5% in the first three months of 2012, from 292 to 442 units, and Harley-Davidson did reasonably well too, up from 1506 to 1843, representing a 22.4% upswing in sales.

Aprilia sales for the first three months of 2012 certainly confirm the brands growing presence in the Australian market with Aprilia Road bike sales up over 121 percent and scooters up over 28 percent. In the same period the total road market grew a healthy 14.5 percent, while the scooter market actually fell 14 percent -- which makes Aprilia’s results even more credible.

Kris Matich, General Manager for John Sample Automotive, said: “The sales results for the first quarter are very pleasing particularly because they have been on a steady and positive curve for over 12 months now so it means the growth is real and not simply a spike of activity around one new model.

“With our ever improving Dealer network and a very steady new product introduction schedule for the next 12-15 months we see these positive results continuing to trend in the right direction.”

Over the next six months Aprilia has a number of new and up-specced models to introduce including the significantly revised Dorsoduro 1200 and 750 Hypermotards, the new Shiver 750 now with ABS and the all new 300cc SR MAX 300 sports scooter. Matich added: “On top of the products already announced there may be a couple of surprise releases over the coming months as well.” 

Kris Matich, General Manager for John Sample Automotive said: “We are very pleased with the growth in Moto Guzzi over the past 18 months. While we are coming off a small base and will never be as large as our main competitors, but we believe that our limited size actually adds to the appeal and value of Moto Guzzi.

“We have some very exciting new products scheduled from July and over the next twelve months so with an ever improving dealer network and a loyal and growing following for Moto Guzzi we expect to see these positive results continue.”