Motorcycle Sales Rebound From Lockdown

Motorcycles appear the preferred COVID lockdown vehicle with Australian sales booming after a slow start to the year due to with fires, drought, floods and then the COVID lockdown.

The official Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) sales figures for new motorcycles and off highway vehicles (OHVs) to the end of September 2020 show a 26.4% rise over the same period last year.

A total of 79,623 vehicles have been sold.

FCAI boss Tony Weber says these strong sales results were in direct contrast to the majority of Australian industry sectors, many of which had reported negative growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, Aussie car, truck and bus sales are down 20.5% for the same period with 644,891 sales.

“Achieving such a strong sales performance in the current market conditions is simply remarkable,” Tony says.

“And it is due, for the most part, to the rising popularity of off-road bikes (up 39.9%) and strong demand for OHVs (up 44.4%).

“Off-road bikes have grown in popularity as people turn to close-to-home recreational pursuits during the pandemic restrictions.

“And OHVs – which include both ATVs and SSVs – are in strong demand due to the implementation of controversial Government legislation which will see the quality ATV brands exit the Australian market.”

Road bike sales are up 8.2% to 25,556, while scooter sales continue to drop, down 4.5% to 3361.

We can’t provide any more detail as the FCAI no longer provides sales information such as top ten charts in each category, individual model sales, nor brand sales figures.

They say this abbreviated format aligns with the publication of corresponding information in the USA and Europe.

Also, it should be noted that 23 minor manufacturers are not included in the official FCAI figures.

They are mainly small-volume importers such as Norton, Hyosung, VMoto, Benelli, Bimota, Bollini, CFMoto, Daelim, EBR, Kymco, Laro, Megelli, Mercury, MV Agusta, Norton, PGO, Royal Enfield, SWM, SYM, TGB, Ural and Viper.