Australia’s motorcycle and All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV)/Side-By-Side Vehicle (SSV) market has fallen 6.2 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2018.
National sales data released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed the third quarter 2018 year-to-date result at 68,494, compared with 73,058 during the same period in 2017.
The 2018 market remained relatively steady in terms of its composition with road bikes remaining the most popular category and comprising 40 per cent of the market. Off-road bikes took a 34 per cent share, ATV/SSVs accounted for 21.5 per cent of total sales, and scooters recorded a slight increase to 4.5 per cent of the overall market.
Among the individual brands, across the market Honda came in at number one with 16,051 sales (23.4 per cent market share), Yamaha in second place with 14,393 sales (21 per cent share), Kawasaki in third with 6,857 sales (10 per cent share), followed by KTM with 5,792 sales (8.5 per cent share) and Suzuki with 5,278 sales (7.7 per cent share).
In the off-road bike segment, Yamaha again came in on top, followed by Honda and KTM. Overall, the off-road bike segment suffered a 3.3 per cent fall on its 2017 result with KTM and Honda as the only volume brands to record an increase in sales to the end of the third quarter.
Specific to the enduro segment, KTM’s 300 EXC topped the charts knocking the Yamaha WR450F back to second spot. Kato’s popular 300 two-stroke, the last of the carburettor models, sold 817 units, a massive 73% increase from the same period during 2017. Yamaha’s WR450F experienced a 23% decrease in sales from 2017. However, with a new WR450F on the way and KTM Australia only selling fuel-injected TPI 300 EXC’s from 2019 we could see Yamaha regain the top spot.
The KTM 500 EXC was the third best selling enduro model, selling 572 units, a 30% increase from 2017.
Yamaha’s YZ450F and YZ250F were the two best selling motocross models, selling 604 and 592 units, respectively.
In the broader off-road segment Yamaha’s PW50 took top spot with 997 sales followed closely by Honda’s CRF50F with 972 sales. The CRF230F was third with 819 sales.
The ATV/SSV segment has suffered the biggest reduction in sales (compared to 2017) with overall numbers being down by 11.2 per cent. Polaris was the overall leader with Honda in second place and Yamaha third. Disappointingly, all brands have suffered a reduction in sales for the year so far.
