All of the economic events must recall 2020 as the worst year since the end of World War II, with the worst financial recession since the Great Depression of 1929. The streets are mostly calm, and silent. Supply chains have broken. Joblessness and inflation are hitting record highs. During the best of times, the stock markets will be unstable. And it would be rational for all economic measures and, in particular, consumer sales to be down for the year as well; a significant recession would not be unpredictable.
Remarkably the purchases of bikes are at a record peak. Sales have shown a steady upsurge all across the board over the past few months. For some markets, it’s more apparent but the pattern is indisputable; year-to-date results of power sports are higher than they have been in ages. Putting the focus on this business sector, in the nations with a rapid post-covid improving economy, the two-wheeler will represent a great goal for personal transportation, and the post-pandemic acceleration should be significantly quicker than before after every other crisis, projecting the market ahead to new record creating new customers who have never driven a two-wheeler before.
Nonetheless, after a string of declining years, the results for 2020 looked extremely hopeful; motorcycle sales rose 3.5 per cent (year-to-date) in February 2020, according to MotorcyclesData.com. So when the pandemic hit in early March and the automotive industry started its free fall in sales, most corporate analysts expected the very same outcome would strike the motorcycle industry.
Data shows us in Australia the off-road market is growing. Dirt-bike sales have risen by a staggering 42.4 per cent as compared to the first half of 2019, while purchases of ATV / SSV have gone nuclear to a 50.9 per cent increase. All in all, from January to June 2020, a sum of 52,838 vehicles were delivered as opposed to 42,457 over that span in 2019. This marks a solid 24.5 per cent rise in revenue, a positive spot in a largely gloomy economic climate over the last four months. Kids motorcycles occupy the top four positions on the dirt bike rankings with the KLX110 ahead of the CRF110F of Honda and the PW50 of Yamaha. It was Yamaha’s WR450F for the bigger kids to lead the way ahead of KTM ‘s 300 EXC.
The 50.9 per cent rise in ATV / SSV sales is primarily powered off the back of the impending deadline for roll-fitting over protective systems which has seen brands like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Polaris announce their plans to stop offering their ATV machines in Australia. These respected brands deem the ROPS bars unsafe and as such keep refusing to fit their vehicles with such systems. It has seen producers and people on the ground pressure their suppliers to such an extent that most companies have failed to satisfy demand and have run out of stock in their most famous products successfully. The tarmac half of the issue is not so idyllic with 2.7 per cent down on road sales and 12.8 per cent down on Scooter sales.
Following the reopening their in April after the Covid-19 outbreak, China is now helping to achieve a significant boom in new vehicles, both cars and motorcycles, with car sales increasing by 14% in May, the highest in 5 years and preliminary figures on motorcycles, up by 18%. In Europe, sales in France in May were down by just 15 per cent and in Italy by 11 per cent, while during the month dealers reopened. Since May 20, daily sales in France and Italy have been higher than last year’s corresponding duration and now an inventory cap is reflected by the low level of distributor stock after plants have been shut down in Europe for more than 1 month.
Current news is, of course, terrible with worldwide revenues down 24.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, followed by April’s 65.7 per cent decline of revenue down from 5.3 in 2019 at 1.8 million. Preliminary estimates made starting May forecast 3.0 million sales a month, down 46.8%. In reality, the full year 2020 is expected to be 49.3 million, down 21.3 per cent with major question marks on India, the largest market still in shutdown with no change in the battle against COVID-19 and with the small possibility of the shutdown in July.