Scooter sales continue to plummet

While Australians have shown their love for off-road motorcycling in the first quarter of 2015, scooters are at the opposite end of the spectrum according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

The snapshot of the local market from January to March saw a two per cent increase in sales of off-road bikes, with ATV and road tailing off by 3.5 and 2.3 per cent respectively.

Scooters, on the other hand, have continued to nosedive, down 35.1 per cent in the first quarter. That equates to sales of 1562 units, compared to 11,066 for road, 7715 for off-road and 4162 for ATV.
Overall, 24,505 units were retailed in the first quarter, a 1.23 per cent decline on 2014 (24,811).

2015 FIRST QUARTER SUMMARY

Honda led the way in the ATV, off-road and road segments, while Vespa was the highest selling scooter marque.

Honda was among the brands to increase sales in the first quarter, up 22.6 per cent, and others to expand their footprint were BMW Motorrad (22.1), BRP (2.9), Harley-Davidson (4.6), Polaris (0.8), Suzuki (6.9) and Triumph (12.1). Those to contract included Aprilia (-39.6), Ducati (-23.4), Husqvarna (-35.5), Kawasaki (-15.9), Moto Guzzi (-28.7), Yamaha (-0.6) and KTM (-18).

In terms of overall market share, Honda has 23.9 per cent share of the pie, from Yamaha (17.5), Kawasaki (11.3), Suzuki (9.5), Harley-Davidson (8.8), KTM (6.5), Polaris (3.9), BMW Motorrad (3.5), Triumph (3.2) and BRP (1.6).

However, missing is Chinese brand CFMoto (along with Daelim and TGB), which has chosen not to be a part of the report for "commercial reasons". At the end of 2014, CFMoto was the 10th largest brand on the local market in terms of overall sales.

A number of new models have made a strong impact on the local scene, including the Yamaha MT-07 (pictured) and Honda CBR300R, which are the fifth and sixth best-selling bikes across all segments. For the MT-07 that equates to domination of the naked class, ahead of its MT-09 stablemate.

Harley-Davidson's new LAMS Street 500 has also kicked off its Aussie debut with a bang, with 218 units sold in just over two months, and the Yamaha MT-09 Tracer has hit the ground running as well.

KTM's RC390 has also shot to third in the supersport rankings, behind the CBR300R and Honda CBR500R.

Discounting the Honda CT110, the Kawasaki Ninja 300 remains Australia's most popular bike, over 200 units ahead of the Honda CRF50F.

2015 FIRST QUARTER TOP 10

The biggest selling bikes in the different categories are as follows: