Motorcycles sales down for first quarter of 2017

The national motorcycle market suffered a 13.4 per cent decline in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016 according to the latest sales data published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

Sales for the 2017 first quarter totalled 21,794 compared with 25,160 for the same January – March period in 2016. The 2017 sales tumble comes after a busy 2016, in which the industry recorded its best annual result since 2009.

Both the road and off-road segments recorded declines during the first three months of 2017, with road bikes down 15.5 per cent and off-road down 15.3 per cent. The ATV/SS market showed only a small drop of 1.3 per cent.

Scooter sales, which have been in slow decline for several years, also fell 22.3 per cent.

Harley Davidson retained its top-selling status overall among the road bikes with 2261 sales for the first quarter, followed by Honda (1943 sales) and Yamaha (1455).

The top-selling manufacturer in the off-road category was Yamaha with 1734 sales. It was followed by Honda with 1467 sales and KTM (1393).

Polaris led the ATV segment with 1244 sales. It was followed by Honda with 908 sales, and close behind in third place, Yamaha with 845 sales.

Piaggio remained top-seller in the scooter market with 293 sales. Second place was taken by Vespa with 240 sales, and Honda third with 198 sales.