AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE SALES FALL IN 2022

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released sales figures for Australia’s motorcycle market in 2022 – and it’s not a good result for the industry.

Overall, 99,030 new motorcycles, scooters and OHVs – from FCAI members – were sold in Australia in 2022, which is a significant decrease on the previous year’s total of 123,530. The 19.8 per cent drop from the total in 2021 (which was a 13.4 per cent increase on 2020’s sales) was largely due to reduced sales of off-road motorcycles and significantly reduced sales of OHV vehicles that include ATVs and Side by Side (SxS) vehicles.

Road bikes sales fell last year, too, with the scooter segment the only one of the four main market segments to see sales increase.

“The rise in interest rates has resulted in consumers tightening their finances. Unfortunately, recreational products are often the first items removed from household budgets,” said FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber.

“This, combined with ongoing global supply chain pandemic recovery, has led to less than expected overall sales in 2022.”

Despite this, Weber is feeling positive for 2023.

“We have got increased connectivity, a growing range of safety aids, the emergence of battery electric power and a great range of product choice for consumers. We are looking forward to 2023 and beyond,” Weber added.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which was at its worst across 2020 and 2021, most motorcycle segments increased sales and off-road bike sales in particular boomed due to international and even interstate travel restrictions.

In 2022, with most borders open, the money that was being spent on recreational motorcycles and ATV/SxS vehicles appears to have gone back into travel.

Segment Breakdown

Of the four main market segments identified by the FCAI, road bike sales in Australia totalled 36,208 last year, which was a decrease of 2.8 per cent on 2021 numbers and represented 36.6 per cent of the total market.

Off-road motorcycles, traditionally the country’s strongest segment, recorded 41,681 sales for the year, a drop of 21.5 per cent on 2021 numbers, but still accounting for 42.1 per cent of the total market.

The OHV segment, which boomed in 2020 ahead of the introduction of mandatory ‘OPD’ (Operator Protection Devices) for all non-recreational ATVs that year, continued to enjoy success in 2021. But, with several brands withdrawing their ATVs from the Australian market instead of fitting the controversial OPDs, sales fell markedly in 2022. Total OHV sales of 15,825 for the past year was down a significant 44.1 per cent on 2021’s total of 24,856.

Finally, the scooter segment, which fell in 2020 but rose in 2021, continued its upward trajectory last year, with 5,136 sales representing a 10.3 increase on 2021 numbers and accounting for 5.4 per cent of the total market.

Missing Motorcycles

As in past years, it should be noted that the Australian motorcycle market figures released in January only cover FCAI members, which includes the major Japanese brands, as well as the likes of Triumph, BMW Motorrad, Harley-Davidson, KTM, Indian and a few others.

What the 2022 figures don’t include are sales from Urban Moto Imports (UMI) and Mojo Motorcycles, neither of whom are FCAI members. That means the likes of Royal Enfield, MV Agusta, Benelli, Segway, Rieju, Super Soco and Peugeot Motocycles, all of which are distributed locally by UMI, are not included in the 2022 numbers. The same goes for CFMoto, Sherco and Kymco bikes from Mojo Motorcycles.

Add these and other non-FCAI brands in and the official 99,030 figure for 2022 is probably closer to 120,000.

In terms of the performance of specific brands and individual model sales, that data hasn’t been available since 2019, with the “information blackout” continuing in 2022, but it’s safe to assume Honda was Australia’s top-selling brand in 2022, as they were in 2021. Honda most likely had the top-selling model, too, as their CRF110F junior dirt bike was Australia’s favourite motorcycle in 2019, 2020 and 2021.