Scooter News Scooter Sales 2006 More people getting onto two wheels. Scooter sales increase by 43% in 2006 reaching a record 14,505 units sold.
FCAI / Allen Drysdale Australian motorcycle sales have hit all-time highs as increasing numbers of commuters and lifestyle enthusiasts turn to two wheels.
Figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that sales of motorcycles grew for the fourth year in a row, hitting a record 119, 210 - an increase of 16,969 or 16.6 per cent on the previous record set in 2005.
For the first time in more than a decade road bikes became the leading market sector with 52,944 sales - a huge 28.7 per cent increase over 2005.
The previously dominant off-road market was relegated to second place with 48,219 sales - itself an increase of 9.5 per cent over 2005.
"The tipping of the balance in favour of road bikes is the combined result of the scooter boom and the increasing numbers of weekend recreational riders," said the chief executive of the FCAI, Peter Sturrock.
The scooter segment continued its rapid sales growth last year, reaching a record 14,505 - an increase of 4171 or 43.0 per cent.
Annual scooter sales have now more than tripled in just three years.
Scooters were the highest-selling category of the road bike market for the fourth year in a row, while Cruisers sales grew by 2900 or 36.3 per cent to 10,925 to displace Super Sports (7685) as the second largest category of road bikes.
"For the past two decades the trend in recreational motorcycling has been towards dirt bikes," said Mr Sturrock.
"And while the dirt bike scene continues to grow, there is now an even stronger trend towards the lifestyle associated with traditional Cruiser-style road bikes, especially amongst the baby-boomer generation."
All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) sales of 18,047 achieved sound growth with an increase of 5.7 per cent on the 2005 figures.
"The ATV agricultural market has continued to improve despite ongoing drought conditions across the nation," said Mr Sturrock.
Honda maintained its market leadership in 2006 with 30,865 sales followed by Yamaha with 27,800 and Suzuki with 14,815.
Honda led the road bike market with 10,291 sales from Yamaha with 6384 and third was Suzuki with 5957 just ahead of Harley-Davidson with 5686.
Yamaha led the off-road market with 16,416 sales closely followed by Honda with 15,240 and Suzuki third with 5875 sales.
In the ATV market sector Honda led with 5334 sales from Yamaha on 5000 sales and with Suzuki third on 2983.
Top 10 Roadbikes Total including scooters / Top 10 Scooters Total
The Bug Jive is again Australia's largest selling road bike when you take the Postie bike out of the equation. This scooter will most likely not be number 1 in 2007 as Bug have introduced the Bug ZX 50 from Kymco, look for this scooter on next years Top 10.
Honda continued to have a huge impact on the Top 10 with the introduction of the Lead 100 joining the ultra reliable Today 50. V moto continue to perform well with three scooters in the Top 10 even though a slight decrease was recorded for the retro Milan.
Yamaha might well be pleased with the new CV 50 Jog coming in at Number 5 on the Top 10 scooter list. Both Honda and Yamaha benefit greatly in having huge dealer networks.
Bolwell continue to plug away with two models in the Top 10 but the big mover must be Vespa with a massive 448% increase and 417 units sold of the GTS 250 ie. This is an amazing figure for a larger capacity scooter and one that is not reflective of its price. Every other scooter in the Top 10 is a value price proposition whilst the GTS 250 is at the top end of the price bracket.
Manufacturers results and % change on 2005
No 1 Scooter Importer once again looks to be Bolwell with 2590 scooters registered an increase of 31% on last year.
The addition of both Bug and Kymco tells the story that this importer has arrived with just over 2000 scooters registered in total for the year of 2006.
Most of these figures will see changes for 2007 with nearly all importers bringing into Australia a host of model line up changes. Piaggio being one that has a series of new models which should see it push well into the 2000 mark and beyond for 2007.
The results for Peugeot as yet don’t reflect the change in ownership to Stoney Creek Powersports and looking at the market we may see a couple of new importers as well as a jostling to revive some of the other well known brands like Italjet, Malaguti and Benelli.
So all in all 2007 looks very positive for the scooter market with a host of new models that will introduce even more people to the world of two wheels.
2007 could very well be the year of the scooter!!!
published 29/01/2007 |