Motorcycle Sales are Up
The Motorcycle Industry Council has released its sales figures through June 2015, and sales are up. Overall, total Motorcycle sales have reached 56,508 units for the month and are now at 277,336 units year-to-date. This represents a 7% increase compared to sales in June 2014 and a 5.1% increase compared to YTD figures recorded at this point last year.
The sales figures are determined based on the performance of MIC member manufacturers (BMW, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, the Piaggio Group, Victory, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha).
The sales breakdown offers a look into different segments of the industry, and On-Highway motorcycles represent the largest portion of sales for the month, with 42,318 units delivered. YTD On-Highway motorcycles have reached 199,873 units, up 12.8% for the month and 7.2% for the year compared to 2014. The largest percentage increase in sales goes to the Dual segment, which grew 17.2% in June 2015 compared to the same month last year, with 4201 units sold. For the year, Dual segment motorcycles have reached 20,778 units sold, a 3.7% jump from YTD numbers in 2014 at the end of June.
Off-Highway motorcycles are down for June 2015 by 12.4% compared to June 2014, but YTD the segment is still up 3.1% compared to last year. Scooter sales are down for the month and YTD, below the June 2014 mark by 17.3% and 11.1% down for the year so far.
ATV figures are up, reaching a 10.7% increase for the month and a 1.7% increase in YTD numbers. UTV sales, however, are not represented in the report.
What does all of this mean?
It means that our hobby is still growing, that there is money in the economy to buy secondary vehicles, and discretionary funds at home are less tied up in gas prices. The biggest indicator of that is the precipitous drop in scooter sales. When scooter sales are up gas prices are usually sky high.
The other part of this is the massive uptick for DUAL motorcycles. These would be your adventure styled bikes from the venerable KLR to the Ducati Multistrada. On-Highway sales are dominated by cruisers with the heavy weight cruiser still the best selling segment in America.
Did you buy a bike recently? What was it?