Australia: Powersports market sales -11.4% first six months of 2019The latest data from the trade association in Australia that includes motorcycle representation (the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries/FCAI) revealed 42,457 motorcycles, ATVs and scooters were sold during the first six months of 2019, a -11.4 percent decline compared with 47,909 for the same period in 2018.
Tony Weber, chief executive of the FCAI, said the softer motorcycle sales reflected the current tough market environment. “The first six months of 2019 have seen several events which have contributed to the sensitivity of the market, including environmental factors such as drought and flood, a tightening of financial lending and the recent Federal election."
Honda was the overall leader with a 24.2 percent share of the national market, followed by Yamaha with 21.1 percent and Kawasaki with 10.7 percent.
Across the industry segments, Scooters defied the market trend with a +18.8 percent increase in sales during the first half. Honda held a 39 percent share, followed by Vespa with 15.25 percent and Piaggio and Suzuki equal on 15.1 percent each in the segment.
The ATV/SSV category showed a decline of -13.9 percent. Within this category, Polaris maintained market leadership with a 27.9 percent share, followed by Honda with 24.7 percent and Yamaha with 18.8 percent.
Off-road category sales fell -5.9 percent compared with the first half of 2018. Honda now leads this segment with a 28.5 percent share, followed by Yamaha with 28.2 percent and KTM with 16.7 percent.
The Road segment fell by -17.7 percent. Harley-Davidson was the market leader with an 18.7 percent share, followed by Yamaha with a 17.5 percent share and Honda with a share of 17.47 percent.
Overall the ATV/SSV sector took 22.7% of sales (up from 17.5% in Q1 2019); Off-Road took a 34.5% share of available sales (up from 32.9% Q1); On-Road bikes were the largest single sector of the Australian market, taking 36.9% of sales (down from 42.2% in Q1), and though the only sector to grow compared to 2018, Scooters took just 5.9% of sales, which was down by -7.4% compared to Q1 2019.
