Australian sales in 2016 best for seven yearsThe latest data released by the FCAI, the trade association in Australia that includes representation of the motorcycle industry there, shows that a surge in consumer activity during the final quarter of 2016 (as Australia headed in to its summer) generated a strong finish to the sales year for Australia’s new motorcycle market, with the calendar year result up +6.6 per cent on 2015.
Australia’s motorcycle, ATV and scooter sales reached a total of 114,783 in 2016 — an increase of 7,073 units over 2015 - and posting the fifth highest sales result in the industry’s history. It was also the industry’s strongest sales result since 2009.
Honda was the largest selling brand again, holding 22.9 percent (26,276 units) of the total motorcycle, ATV and scooter market.
Close behind in second place was Yamaha with 21.7 percent of the total market (24,899). Kawasaki was third with 9.2 percent (10,592 sales), Harley-Davidson fourth with 9 percent (10,282 sales) and Suzuki fifth with 8.6 percent (9,924 sales).
Road bike sales were again healthy across the industry, increasing +5.3 percent over 2015 and accounting for 41.6 percent of the total market. Australians rode home with a total of 47,753 new road bikes in 2016.
Harley-Davidson took the top sales position in the road bike category. The Milwaukee (USA) based manufacturer sold 10,282 new road bikes across Australia in 2016 to claim a leading segment share of 21.5 percent.
Honda was the second highest selling brand in this category, with 20.2 percent of national road bike sales (9,651). Honda was followed by Yamaha with 16.3 percent (7,768 sales), Kawasaki with 10.1 percent (4,798) and BMW with 6.7 percent (3,178).
Off-road motorcycle purchases accounted for almost 35 percent of the total market with 39,710 sales. The popularity of this segment grew at a slightly higher rate than that of road bikes in 2016, with the 39,710 off-road sales for 2016 representing a +6.3 percent increase on 2015 figures.
Yamaha also led the market for off-road motorcycles, selling 30.5 percent (12,090) of the total number sold in this segment. Yamaha was followed by Honda with 24.8 percent (9,848 sales), KTM with 17.7 percent (7,023), Kawasaki with 11.0 percent (4,382) and Suzuki with 10.3 percent (4,081).
The ATV market grew by a solid +14.4 percent over 2015, with a total of 22,834 ATVs sold nationally in 2016. ATV sales represented 19.9 percent of the total motorcycle market.
Polaris was the leading ATV brand with a 26.4 percent share, or 6,037 sales. Honda was second with 25.5 percent (5,832 sales), Yamaha was third with 20.5 percent (4,692), BRP fourth with 11.1 percent (2,524) and Suzuki fifth with 10.2 percent (2,337).
Scooters continued their decline in popularity with total sales in this segment of 4,486, down -11.0 percent on 2015; Piaggio remained market leader with a 24.0 percent share (1,075 sales).
