NEW MOTORCYCLE SALES FALL FOR JAN-JUN 2023

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released numbers on new motorcycle sales in Australia for the first half of 2023. Across the January to June period, FCAI member brands in three of the four main market categories saw fewer sales compared to the same period last year. As a result, overall sales were down 5.9 per cent compared to Jan-Jun, 2022.

Total sales of 45,085 new motorcycles and Off-Highway-Vehicles (OHV) for January–June 2023 is 2,844 less than what the industry achieved in the first six months of 2022.

Across the segments, road motorcycle sales fell by 4.0 per cent to 17,432, while off-road sales dropped by 13.0 per cent to 16,884. Scooter sales fell by 6.0 per cent to 2,618.

The only segment to record an increase for the Jan-Jun period was OHV, which continued its upward trend from the first quarter with 8,151 units sold for the first six months of this year – an increase of 7.6 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The total breakdown sees road and off-road segments remaining neck-and-neck, with 38.6 and 37.4 per cent of the market, respectively. Scooters make up 5.8 per cent of the market, while the OHV segment has grown to account for 18 per cent of FCAI member sales.

While OHV sales have rebounded following the introduction of mandatory OPDs in late 2021 (that saw many ATV buyers move to larger SxS vehicles), a challenger to this segment is emerging in the form of compact pickup trucks from Japan. Available from several importers, these light trucks are starting to gain a foothold in the market due to features that OHVs don’t offer, like fully-enclosed cabins and the ability to be road registered.

While FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber acknowledged that the depressed overall market was a sign of economy-wide pressures related to rises in interest rates and the increased cost of living, he took some positives from the Jan-Jun numbers.

“It was significant to see the sales of road motorcycles exceeded the sales of off-road motorcycles during the first six months of this year,” Weber said. “Also of note was the six per cent decrease in scooter sales compared with this time last year. Sales of scooters generally hold firm during challenging economic times.

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

As in past reports on Australia’s new bike market, it needs to be noted that the sales figures for the first half of 2023 only cover FCAI members and does not include non-member brands like Royal Enfield, Benelli, Segway, Rieju, Super Soco and Peugeot Motocycles, all of which are distributed locally by Urban Moto Imports. The same goes for CFMoto, Sherco and Kymco bikes that are distributed locally by Mojo Motorcycles. Combined, these brands would likely add a few thousand to this year’s six-month sales total.

MV Agusta is one brand that will soon be returning to the sales charts, though, following the transfer of local distribution from Urban Moto Imports to KTM Group Aus & NZ. The transfer was announced back in June and is due to be completed by September.