Tough Market Conditions Continue – 3rd Quarter 2018

Australia’s motorcycle and All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV)/Side-By-Side Vehicle (SSV) market has fallen 6.2 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2018. Although, most of the main players have remained reasonably steady.

National sales data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed the third quarter 2018 year-to-date result at 68,494, compared with 73,058 during the same period in 2017.

The 2018 market remained relatively steady in terms of its composition with road bikes remaining the most popular category and comprising 40 per cent of the market. Off-road bikes took a 34 per cent share, ATV/SSVs accounted for 21.5 per cent of total sales, and scooters recorded a slight increase to 4.5 per cent of the overall market.

Among the individual brands, across the market Honda came in at number one with 16,051 sales (23.4 per cent market share), Yamaha in second place with 14,393 sales (21 per cent share), Kawasaki in third with 6,857 sales (10 per cent share), followed by KTM with 5,792 sales (8.5 per cent share) and Suzuki with 5,278 sales (7.7 per cent share).

Road bike sales nationally reduced by 7.5 per cent on the 2017 result.  Honda came in as segment leader, ahead of Harley-Davidson, and with Yamaha in third.  Yamaha, Suzuki, Husqvarna, and Indian all saw increased sales to the end of the 3^rd quarter in 2018 compared with 2017.

In the off-road bike segment, Yamaha again came in on top, followed by Honda and KTM.  Overall, the off-road bike segment suffered a 3.3 per cent fall on its 2017 result with KTM and Honda as the only volume brands to record an increase in sales to the end of the third quarter.

The ATV/SSV segment has suffered the biggest reduction in sales (compared to 2017) with overall numbers being down by 11.2 per cent.  Polaris was the overall leader with Honda in second place and Yamaha third.  Disappointingly, all brands have suffered a reduction in sales for the year so far.

In the smallest segment (Scooters) which only accounts for 4.5 per cent of total sales, Honda was the leader, followed by Piaggio, and Vespa in third.  With most brands seeing an increase in sales in this segment there was a pleasing 11.8 per cent increase in overall sales compared to the same period last year.