2009 bike sales down 20%
Added on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
2009 bike sales down 20%
The year-end statistics from the motorcycle industry show that new motorcycle and scooter sales above 50cc dropped by 20%, compared to 2008, reports Alastair Walker.
December 2009 was an especially grim month with huge percentage falls in various sectors. For example Adventure Sport class machines were down 52%, Customs fell 55% and Supersports were off by 34%. The only good news was that Touring and Trail/Enduro categories held steady, with no change compared to December 08 figures.
Top selling bikes in December 09 included the BMW R1200GS and F800GS, with the CBR1000RR Fireblade being the top bike in the 651cc-1000cc bracket. The top brand by sales volume in 2009 was Yamaha.
A dismal 2009 for new bike sales, with the MCIA calling for a motorcycle scrappage scheme to bost commuter class sales, and the Get On campaign aimed at novices. But what lies ahead for 2010? Sales Manager Dave Hewitt from Manchester Harley-Davidson, based in Stockport, doesn’t see an immediate pick-up in the first few months of 2010;
“The recent snowy weather hasn’t helped of course, but even so, it’s been quiet so far this January. Harley-Davidson had a tough 2009 no doubt about it, Buell is no more. But the Harley brand is still strong and residual values are high, so that makes a H-D a very good bike to buy in the long run. You could buy a new R1 for example and lose 3K-4K in a year of ownership, you won’t get that depreciation with a Harley. ”
Dave sees a diminishing number of used bikes available in the UK in 2010;
” The one thing that is really changing the UK bike market is the rising number of eurozone buyers, all after good, recent reg plate secondhand bikes - we are selling used bikes to brokers and private buyers based in Germany, Denmark, Portugal and Spain in particular. Some brokers are filling a van with five or six machines every two weeks - the good stuff is going abroad as sterling remains weak.”
Honda dealer Miles Kingsport based in East Yorkshire has also seen a rise in european buyers, especially from Holland, with the MK dealership being based in Hull;
“We have an arrangement with a dealer in Holland, who gives us a decent price on hard-to-shift used machines,” says Andy Kirkup, Sales Manager, “but we try to hang onto the really low miles, super clean used Hondas. We never sell new bikes abroad, it would upset Honda, so euro demand will make no difference to UK prices in 2010 on our brand new motorcycles. Our shop is gearing up for the VFR1200 launch in February, that will be the real test how new bike sales will shape up this year.”
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