2018 AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE MARKET REPORT OVERVIEW

Photos: Various manufacturers

After Australia’s new bike market fell in 2017, data released in January shows it dropped again in 2018.

FCAI figures showed 95,800 total sales for 2018; an 8.7 per cent drop over 2017’s total of 104,111, which itself was a 9.3 per cent fall on 2016.

That 2016 figure – 114,783 sales – is now looking like it’ll be a high point that won’t be bettered for some time.

But why is the market in decline? Industry observers have cited stricter lending criteria from financial institutions, slow wage growth, employment uncertainty, more costly registration and licensing procedures for motorcycles, instability in the home buyer’s market and even the drought that’s crippled parts of NSW and Queensland.

In terms of actual numbers, a major contributor to the fall has been the Australia Post ‘postie bike’ fleet. After artificially inflating new bike sales figures for years, sales of the postie bike (formerly CT110, now NBC110) fell 43 per cent in 2017 and a further 52 per cent last year. Australia’s top-selling ‘road bike’ for years, the NBC110 only scraped into the road category’s Top Ten last year and didn’t even figure in the overall Top Ten.

Another factor that can’t be ignored is Australia’s highly competitive new car market. Price wars from the major brands have made cars more affordable than ever, and thus more desirable for new vehicle buyers weighing up the pros and cons of a car versus a motorcycle.

Previously, there was a clear distinction between the cheapest car you could get and a mid-level affordable motorcycle. Now, entry-level passenger cars are fighting in the same sort of price arena as some bikes and offering more for your money than ever before.

Finally, like pretty much everything else, motorcycles are subject to trends and fashions. Individual models and even market segments have gone in and out of fashion and will continue to do so – remember the supermotard boom of a few years ago?

More recent evidence of this is the compact naked bike market that went off with a bang in 2016 when Honda’s Grom arrived in Australia. After more than 1,150 sales in 2016, the Grom held steady in 2017, but sales for this model fell more than 34 per cent in 2018.

For the reverse of this, the retro roadster is looking like the hot new category, with Kawasaki’s Z900RS recording 393 sales last year, despite its hefty price tag, leading to a café racer treatment being offered on the W800 for 2019.

In a similar vein, Honda’s revived Monkey (using the Grom’s 125cc engine under its retro styling) saw 266 sales on debut last year; a figure that’s sure to increase in 2019.

Some bikes confound predictions, though, like Harley-Davidson’s Softail Breakout, which has been a big hit for Harley and is on the verge of unseating its much cheaper stablemate, the Street 500, as the nation’s top-selling cruiser.

Similarly, Honda’s simple – some would say dull – CB125E that’s a staple of rider training providers and LAMS beginners saw a sales increase of almost 60 per cent last year.

There are constants, too – bikes that defy trends, the economy and just about everything else to keep selling year after year. Kid’s bikes, like Honda’s CRF50F and Yamaha’s PW50, along with their cousins, the CRF110F and TT-R50E, are the best evidence of this, but even these evergreens weren’t immune to the downturn, with only the PW50 improving its sales last year.

Battle of the Brands

In a year of overall decline, it’s no surprise that most brands saw their numbers for 2018 fall. In fact, of the brands that are FCAI members, only Vespa, Indian and BRP recorded a sales increase for the year.

The big four Japanese brands all took a hit, with Suzuki down 16.1 per cent, Kawasaki 6.1 per cent, Honda 5.9 and Yamaha 1.1 per cent. Honda retained its market leadership over Yamaha (23.9 versus 22.2 per cent of the Australian market), albeit on reduced volume.

Harley-Davidson’s slide was more extreme; down 21.2 per cent, with Ducati’s fall even greater at 23.2 per cent.

For Harley-Davidson, the decline is confounding, as they continue to dominate the cruiser category and the Softail Breakout saw 794 sales for the year. Other new arrivals on the expanded Softail platform sold well, too, but the LAMS-legal Street 500 saw a 20 per cent fall, essentially wiping out the gains of other models.

If you’re wondering about Royal Enfield, they are not FCAI members, so their numbers are not included in the mentioned sales totals. However, Royal Enfield’s Asia-Pacific boss, Vimal Simbly, claimed the brand was closing in on 1,000 Australian sales for 2018.

Assuming that they hit that number - or thereabouts - that’d put them in thirteenth place on the industry league table, behind Triumph and Ducati, who recorded 2,122 and 1,512 sales, respectively, in 2018. Next best after Ducati on FCAI data was Vespa with 884 sales, a 5.2 per cent increase on 2017, but smaller overall volumes in the scooter market make gains – and losses – seem greater than they actually are.

Note also that Beta, MV Agusta, Benelli, Gas Gas and CF Moto importers are not FCAI members, either, so their numbers are not recorded.

Add Royal Enfield and these brands in, and the market would look a little healthier, but probably only to the tune of around 2,000 or 3,000 units.

Top 10 Brands – 2018

(sales increase/decrease compared to 2017)

Honda 22,735 (-5.9%)
Yamaha 21,145 (-1.1%)
Kawasaki 9,376 (-6.1%)
Suzuki 7,557 (-16.1%)
KTM 7,497 (-1.2%)
Harley-Davidson 7,019 (-21.2%)
Polaris 5,443 (-17.3%)
BMW 2,922 (-3.5%)
BRP Australia 2,423 (+0.3%)
Husqvarna 2,251 (-15.0%)

Overall Sales – Highs and Lows

The top selling bikes across all categories (excluding ATVs) for 2018 was almost a mirror of 2017, with Honda’s CRF50F retaining the Number One mantle it gained for the first time in 2017.

Behind it, the next four places were also unchanged, but the decline of the NBC110 postie bike has elevated the Yamaha WR450F to sixth overall, with new additions to the Top Ten including the Honda CB125E on the back of a massive 58.8 per cent sales increase. Kawasaki’s all-new Ninja 400 and the KTM 300EXC also made the Top Ten last year, at the expense of Harley’s Street 500 and Softail Breakout.

Top 10 Bikes – 2018 (all categories, excluding ATVs)

(sales increase/decrease compared to 2017)