The FCAI, the peak body for Australia’s automotive industry, has today released sales figures for motorcycles, scooters, and off-road vehicles (ORV) for the first half of 2022.
A total of 47,929 motorcycles, scooters, and ORVs were sold from January to the end of June. This represents a decrease of 14.2 percent on 2021 figures, which is 7,911 fewer vehicles sold.
Road motorcycles grew by 4.8 percent on 2021 figures and scooters grew by 11.4 percent. However, off-road motorcycles and off-road vehicles declined.
Off-road motorcycles had two exceptional sales years in 2020 and 2021 as many people purchased these motorcycles to enjoy recreational activities during the COVID period. From January-June 2022 a total of 19,406 off-road motorcycles were sold. While this represents a decrease of 12.7 percent on the same period in 2021, sales are still higher than in pre-COVID years.
Off-road vehicle sales are down 45 percent compared to the first six months of 2021. This follows a decision by the major ATV brands to stop importing ATVs into Australia due to safety concerns with the new quad bike standard. Abnormally high sales in previous years coincided with a huge rush by farmers to buy their favourite brands of ATVs before they sold out.
FCAI Chief Executive Tony Weber said that the global automotive supply chain crunch was also having an impact.
“Global shipping remains unpredictable. This is impacting both production of motorcycles, scooters, and off-road vehicles and their freight to Australia,” Mr Weber said.
While total sales are down, road motorcycles and scooters remain important elements of Australia’s mobility network.
“With increasing congestion in our capital cities, decision-makers need to be planning with road motorcycles and scooters in mind. These vehicles are an important tool in improving traffic flow, therefore reducing trip times for all road users,” Mr Weber said.
Decisions around land use planning in rural and regional areas, particularly those adjacent to population centres, need to factor in off-road motorcycle and vehicle use.
“We are seeing public land which riders have traditionally been able to access for recreation being locked up. As an industry we are calling on decision-makers to consider the needs of recreational riders in land use planning decisions,” Mr Weber concluded.
