Fires, floods, virus slam vehicle sales

January’s fires, followed by floods and concerns about coronavirus have wreaked havoc on new car and motorcycle sales in Australia.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) last week announced that new car sales were down -12.5% (71,731 vehicles) compared with January 2019, which was the worst sales-year since 2011.

Although the FCAI only publicly releases motorcycle figures on a quarterly basis, we have seen the results for January and they paint a similarly dour picture.

Total motorcycle, ATV and scooter sales were down -10.2% on January 2019 to 5581. This follows last year’s slump of -6.1%.

ATV			Off Road			Road			Scooter			Total
YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN
961	1022	-6.0%	1763	2140	-17.6%	2464	2595	-5.0%	393	456	-13.8%	5581	6213	-10.2%

	Total
	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN
Aprilia	10	22	-54.5%
BMW	222	202	9.9%
BRP Australia	148	181	-18.2%
Ducati	83	83	0.0%
Harley Davidson	486	498	-2.4%
Honda	932	1519	-38.6%
Husqvarna	213	148	43.9%
Indian Motorcycle	69	61	13.1%
Kawasaki	618	662	-6.6%
KTM	558	479	16.5%
Moto Guzzi	10	7	42.9%
Piaggio	52	91	-42.9%
Polaris	243	293	-17.1%
Suzuki	412	507	-18.7%
Triumph	178	152	17.1%
Vespa	77	78	-1.3%
Yamaha	1270	1230	3.3%
TOTAL	5581	6213	-10.2%

Road bikes

Australian road bike sales dropped 11.9% last year to drop behind off-road sales for the first time in as long as we can remember.

Road bikes are down another 5% in January, but they are now the biggest sector again thanks to a -17.6% crash in off-road sales.

Last year the only positive sector was scooter sales, but they have also slipped by 13.8%.

	YTD 2020	YTD 2019	% CHAN
Aprilia	6	7	-14.3%
BMW	209	197	6.1%
Ducati	83	83	0.0%
Harley Davidson	486	498	-2.4%
Honda	296	417	-29.0%
Husqvarna	40	23	73.9%
Indian Motorcycle	69	61	13.1%
Kawasaki	272	399	-31.8%
KTM	158	104	51.9%
Moto Guzzi	10	7	42.9%
Suzuki	156	175	-10.9%
Triumph	178	152	17.1%
Yamaha	501	472	6.1%
TOTAL	2464	2595	-5.0%

Performing brands

Looking only at road bikes, KTM (51.9%) and Husqvarna (73.9% off a low base) continue to do well.

They have now been joined by Triumph (17.1%), Indian (13.1%), BMW (6.1%) and Yamaha (6.1%).

The big losers in January were Kawasaki (-31.8%), Honda (-29%) and Suzuki (-10.1%).

Harley-Davidson only lost -2.4% but narrowly yielded its crown as the top-selling road bike brand to Yamaha.

Fires, floods and virus

Since the figures are not officially released, there is no statement from FCAI boss Tony Weber.

However, he had this to say about the “conservative” new car results:

“Given the broad range of environmental, financial, international and political issues facing Australia during January, it is no surprise to see the new vehicle market has reported a conservative start to the year,” he said in a statement last week.

Those factors would include the bushfires, floods, hail storms, coronavirus and various other national and international political issues that have kickstarted the year.

Bushfires and floods have certainly stopped a lot of riders and along with the other factors have dented consumer confidence.

A dramatic 17.6% drop in off-road motorcycle sales could also be the result of the fire-ravaged rural community. However, drought-breaking rains may have the reverse effect in coming months.

FCAI figures

While the FCAI figures quoted are compared with like figures from the previous year, it should be noted that 23 minor manufacturers are not included in the FCAI stats as they are not members.

The missing brands are Benelli, Bimota, Bollini, CFMoto, Confederate, Daelim, EBR, Hyosung, Kymco, Laro, Megelli, Mercury, MV Agusta, Norton, PGO, Royal Enfield, SWM, SYM, TGB, Ural, Viper and VMoto.