11 January 2013
Quad bike sales continue to grow while road bikes sales stay the same
Figures just released by the Motor Industry Association (MIA) show that quad bike sales for 2012 were up nearly 13% from
last year.
“Quad sales remain strong in the agricultural industry”, said Mr Clive Hellyar, Manager of the Motor Cycle Division of
the Motor Industry Association. “It is interesting to note that there has been a shift towards side by side products in
this sales sector with a total of 1075 of these units being sold out of the total 7403 quad units sold in 2012.”
In commenting on the increase in sales of quads he noted that the MIA was working with government officials and others
in the industry to ensure that good safety practice was maintained by those operating these vehicles. “The number of
serious injuries and fatalities recently reported in the media are a sad reminder that some individuals are not
complying with the basic safety rules such as helmet wearing and not carrying passengers and in particular children” he
said.
Total new over 50 cc motorcycles road registrations for 2012 were 3998 compared with 3936 for 2011, a small increase of
1.6%. Registrations of scooters with an engine rating of less than 50 cc were well down on 2011 with a 27.6% drop in
sales. “This reduction is difficult to explain given the popularity of these vehicles in the commuter market but they
are products which do show cyclical sales patterns and perhaps 2012 was one of those periods where sales have slowed.”
Off road recreational bike sales were also down by nearly 10% which is probably due to difficult economic conditions
which do have an effect on the recreational market.
The top three in road bike sales were Suzuki, Harley Davidson and Triumph.
A copy of the statistical tables including market share information is attached.
ENDS