Motorbike sales rebound

While the passenger and commercial vehicle market has decreased 6.6 per cent in the first half of the year, bike, scooter and ATV sales are up 3.1 per cent to 50,379.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Andrew McKellar says sales were down 8.9 per cent to 105,766 last year after hitting a peak of 114,210 in 2008, but were returning to growth, particularly in the scooter (up 14 per cent) and all-terrain vehicle (up 29 per cent) segments.

"The growth of scooter sales and the resilience of overall road bike sales suggest commuters are finding motorcycles to be a practical solution to continuing high fuel prices and inner-city traffic congestion,'' he says.

ATV companies such as Polaris report that demand has been high in rural areas since the drought broke for much of the country last year.

In the past year road bikes have become the biggest sellers with half-year sales of 18,653 (37 per cent), beating off-road bikes (15,268, 30 per cent), ATVs (10,544, 21 per cent) and scooters (5914, 11.7 per cent).

However, McKellar pointed out that with seven of the top 10 motorcycles being off-road bikes, motorcycling remained a popular recreational sport and pastime in Australia.

Japanese manufacturers continue to dominate sales. Honda was the number one brand with 10,424 sales, followed by Yamaha (9349), Suzuki (6333), Kawasaki (4882) and Harley Davidson (2955).

FCAI motorcycle manager Rhys Griffiths says the road bike segment has been augmented by the performance of "a few influential models" such as the top-selling Kawasaki Ninja 250R and the Honda CBR250.

The biggest loser was Buell down 89.3 per cent because the Harley sportsbike off-shoot discontinued production.

BIKE SALES - THE WINNERS

BIKE SALES - THE LOSERS