Despite record low interest rates and fairly low unemployment, retail sales across almost every product sector came under massive pressure throughout Australia in 2019. Discretionary buys like motorcycles are obviously one of the first areas that these hits are felt. Motorcycle sales have been pushing into considerable headwinds for a few years while the car industry had been continuing to do okay, but the wheels even fell off the mainstream car market in 2019. Car sales are at their worst since the GFC affected 2011.
Overall the combined motorcycle, ATV and scooter markets were down 6.1 per cent on full calendar year results compared to 2018. In 2018 the market had already fell 8.7 per cent, to 95,080, down from the total of 104,111 achieved in 2017. That 2017 total in itself was well down from what had been a pretty strong 2016, a year that saw overall sales of 114,783. That 2016 result was the fifth highest sales result in history, and the strongest year for the industry since 2009. In 2019 the industry recorded 89,199 sales.
To put the size of our market into a global perspective, over just the past nine months, in India alone, Honda have sold more than four-million motorcycles and scooters.
The road going sector took the biggest hit, down 11.9 per cent. That is an even larger drop than the 9.6 per cent decline recorded in 2018.
Drought affected farmers have predictably stopped updating their ATV machines as often as they would in good years, thus the ATV market is down 8.5 per cent.
The off-road sector though has some light on the horizon. After experiencing a 6.8 per cent drop in 2018, the dirt-bike sector only fell another 1.6 per cent. With 34,298 sales the off-road market was larger than the 31,981 unit road-bike sales for the first time in many years. Off-Road sales comprised 38.5 per cent of the market, road bikes 35.8 per cent while ATV/SSV had a 20.1 per cent market share.
The off-road strength was driven by sales of enduro bikes and kids bikes, all major motocross models recorded significant drops in sales.
After a disastrous few years the scooter market continues to recover well. Scooters were up 12.4 per cent in 2018, and were up another 15.9 per cent in 2019. Scooter sales are not included in the road-bike totals previously mentioned and comprise only 5.6 per cent of the total market.
Overall Honda remains #1 despite an 8.4 per cent decline which was primarily from a reduction in their road-bike and ATV sales, but Honda almost equalled their 2018 results off-road. Honda actually recorded a massive 46.5 per cent growth in scooter sales, and more than doubled the sales of any other brand that is active in the scooter segment.
Honda has 23.3 per cent of the total Australian market while Yamaha captured 22.4 per cent.
Yamaha recorded 19,945 sales to Honda’s 20,819. Yamaha fell 5.7 per cent on 2018 figures.
A distant third place is Kawasaki on 8962 sales, a 4.4 per cent decline but Team Green still have a strong ten per cent market share and were the only brand to post an increase in ATV/SSV sales in 2019.
Fourth went to KTM as the Austrian brand displaced Suzuki from the #4 spot after recording strong growth in road bike sales. KTM have 8.6 per cent of the market while Suzuki recorded a 7.8 per cent market share.
Sixth is Harley-Davidson who despite a 7.9 per cent decline still sold more road-bikes than any other brand. That decline came off the back of a 2018 that saw the brand down 21.1 per cent.
Polaris are the seventh biggest selling brand in Australia and remain the ATV market leader.
BMW were down 8.5 per cent despite more than doubling their scooter sales and rank eighth.
Husqvarna experienced positive growth, 12.1 per cent up in off-road sales and a 24.2 per cent in road-bike sales sees Husky rank ninth. The only brands in positive territory were Husqvarna and previously mentioned sister brand KTM.
BRP Australia were next with their Can-Am branded ATV machines putting them inside the top ten while Triumph rounded out the top ten.
Ducati are outside the top ten after recording a 9.5 per cent decline but that was a better result than the 23.2 per cent fall they suffered in 2018.
Honda’s CRF50F narrowly bested Yamaha’s PW50 for the mantle of Australia’s biggest selling motorcycle in 2019. Small off-road bikes then continue to dominate the overall top ten with Honda’s CRF110F taking third place ahead of Kawasaki’s KLX110 and Yamaha’s TT-R50E. The first larger capacity bike on the list is Yamaha’s WR450F in sixth while Honda’s NSC110 was seventh overall and Australia’s #1 scooter.
Australian Motorcycle Sales Data
Top performing motorcycle brands
| January – December 2019 compared to January – December 2018 | |||
| Manufacturer | Total | ||
| YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | % CHAN | |
| Honda | 20819 | 22735 | -8.4% |
| Yamaha | 19945 | 21145 | -5.7% |
| Kawasaki | 8962 | 9376 | -4.4% |
| KTM | 7670 | 7497 | 2.3% |
| Suzuki | 6934 | 7557 | -8.2% |
| Harley Davidson | 6462 | 7019 | -7.9% |
| Polaris | 5119 | 5443 | -6.0% |
| BMW | 2675 | 2922 | -8.5% |
| Husqvarna | 2555 | 2251 | 13.5% |
| BRP Australia | 2358 | 2423 | -2.7% |
| Triumph | 1787 | 2122 | -15.8% |
| Ducati | 1368 | 1512 | -9.5% |
| Indian Motorcycle | 803 | 836 | -3.9% |
| Vespa | 744 | 884 | -15.8% |
| Piaggio | 671 | 863 | -22.2% |
| Aprilia | 202 | 334 | -39.5% |
| Moto Guzzi | 125 | 125 | 0.0% |
| TOTAL | 89199 | 95044 | -6.1% |
Australian Motorcycle Sales Figures
Road Bike Sales by brand
| January – December 2019 compared to January – December 2018 | |||
| Manufacturer | Road | ||
| YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | % CHAN | |
| Harley Davidson | 6462 | 7019 | -7.9% |
| Honda | 5306 | 7019 | -24.4% |
| Yamaha | 5145 | 5702 | -9.8% |
| Kawasaki | 3865 | 4396 | -12.1% |
| BMW | 2470 | 2835 | -12.9% |
| Suzuki | 2303 | 2686 | -14.3% |
| KTM | 1889 | 1597 | 18.3% |
| Triumph | 1787 | 2122 | -15.8% |
| Ducati | 1368 | 1512 | -9.5% |
| Indian Motorcycle | 803 | 836 | -3.9% |
| Husqvarna | 329 | 265 | 24.2% |
| Aprilia | 129 | 194 | -33.5% |
| Moto Guzzi | 125 | 125 | 0.0% |
| TOTAL | 31981 | 36308 | -11.9% |
Australian Motorcycle Sales Data
Off-Road Sales by brand
| January – December 2019 compared to January – December 2018 | |||
| Manufacturer | Off Road | ||
| YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | % CHAN | |
| Yamaha | 10481 | 11055 | -5.2% |
| Honda | 9854 | 9807 | 0.5% |
| KTM | 5781 | 5900 | -2.0% |
| Kawasaki | 3650 | 3567 | 2.3% |
| Suzuki | 2306 | 2526 | -8.7% |
| Husqvarna | 2226 | 1986 | 12.1% |
| TOTAL | 34298 | 34841 | -1.6% |
Australian Motorcycle Sales Data
Scooter Sales by brand
| January – December 2019 compared to January – December 2018 | |||
| Manufacturer | Scooter | ||
| YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | % CHAN | |
| Honda | 1910 | 1304 | 46.5% |
| Suzuki | 840 | 575 | 46.1% |
| Vespa | 744 | 884 | -15.8% |
| Piaggio | 671 | 863 | -22.2% |
| Yamaha | 571 | 475 | 20.2% |
| BMW | 205 | 87 | 135.6% |
| Aprilia | 73 | 140 | -47.9% |
| TOTAL | 5014 | 4328 | 15.9% |
Australian Motorcycle Sales Data
ATV/SSV Sales by brand
| January – December 2019 compared to January – December 2018 | |||
| Manufacturer | ATV | ||
| YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | % CHAN | |
| Polaris | 5119 | 5443 | -6.0% |
| Honda | 3749 | 4605 | -18.6% |
| Yamaha | 3748 | 3913 | -4.2% |
| BRP Australia | 2358 | 2423 | -2.7% |
| Suzuki | 1485 | 1770 | -16.1% |
| Kawasaki | 1447 | 1413 | 2.4% |
| TOTAL | 17906 | 19567 | -8.5% |
Top Ten Selling Motorcycles in Australia 2019 (Models – Excludes ATV)
| January – December 2019 compared to January – December 2018 | ||||
| Manufacturer | Model | Total | ||
| YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | % CHAN | ||
| Honda | CRF50F | 2052 | 2159 | -5.0% |
| Yamaha | PW50 | 1983 | 1953 | 1.5% |
| Honda | CRF110F | 1847 | 1487 | 24.2% |
| Kawasaki | KLX110 | 1613 | 1246 | 29.5% |
| Yamaha | TTR50E | 1562 | 1715 | -8.9% |
| Yamaha | WR450F | 1206 | 1136 | 6.2% |
| Honda | NSC110 | 1109 | 597 | 85.8% |
| Yamaha | TTR110E | 1102 | 1048 | 5.2% |
| Honda | CB125E | 1013 | 1113 | -9.0% |
| Kawasaki | NINJA 400 | 989 | 1089 | -9.2% |
What about the other brands….?
It should be noted that some brands are not represented in the official audit figures in relation to motorcycle sales. Brands under the UMI group such as MV Agusta, Royal Enfield and Gas Gas, along with the likes of Sherco, CF Moto, Kymco and SWM which come under the stewardship of Mojo Motorcycles, are not included in the sales figures as these companies choose not to be members of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
An educated guesstimate suggests that these brands represent around 10-15 per cent of the whole market, thus the data is formulated from audited figures that cover around 85-90 per cent of the motorcycles sold in Australia.
Along with compiling motorcycles sales data, the FCAI is the primary organisation funded by the motorcycle industry to deal with government agencies. FCAI helped lobby for the Learner Approved Motorcycles Scheme and the Recreational Registration Scheme. They also lobby for exemptions on tightening emissions schemes in relation to motorcycles, and helping to prevent governments trying to restrict or ban the use of ATVs.
Source: MCNews.com.au