Scooter News  ADVERTISEMENT  Scooters on the Rise Sales of scooters soar with fuel price
Mathew Knott / The Australian SCOOTER and motorcycle sales are soaring as Australians increasingly leave their fuel-guzzling cars in the garage, with growth almost doubling that of four-wheel vehicles.
Figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show 64,186 motorbikes and scooters were sold in the first half of 2008, up 6.6 per cent on the same period last year.
Sales of motorised scooters - which plateaued last year after years of growth - were particularly strong at 7613, up 7.6 per cent on 2007.
This compares with 3.5 per cent growth for cars, trucks and buses.
"A real scooter culture is beginning to grow in urban areas," said FCAI motorcycle manager Ray Newland.
"Now many people have one family vehicle and a scooter for recreation."
The FCAI expects the two-wheeled vehicle sales boom to continue in coming years because of the global oil shortage and soon-to-be introduced emissions trading scheme.
Australian Scooter Federation chairperson Hollie Black said: "As an industry, we're all experiencing growth because of petrol prices, road congestion and public transport in a lot of states". She said the idea scooters were dangerous was "completely inaccurate".
"As an industry, we've seen very few fatalities in the last 10 years - you could count them on two hands," she said.
Ms Black said the environmental footprint of scooters was very small compared with that of cars.
Printing press manager Nic Wilke, from Albury NSW, ditched his ute for a Vespa scooter 18 months ago and can't believe it took him so long.
It used to cost him $80 a week to fill up his tank - and that's when petrol prices were at $1.30 a litre.
Mr Wilke now gets around town for less than $15 a fortnight, despite the spike in fuel costs.
"I've always liked the look of the old Vespas and scooters are automatic, easy to park, cheap to register and cheap to buy," he said.
"Parking is good because there are allocated motorcycle parks in the main streets of town and near shopping centres, and you can park a scooter and a car in a single lockup garage."
Sydney City Council has doubled free parking spaces for motorbikes and scooters to 600 in the past two years, with more on the way soon.
But Mr Wilke said scooters weren't just for inner-city yuppies; they were a boon for Australians in regional areas with poor public transport.
He recently talked his apprentice, who used to drive a V8, into getting one and his wife now has her own scooter for weekend use.
published 7/07/2008 |