webBikeWorld

 ► Motorcycle Sales Statistics and Information

wBW Motorcycle News:  Our motorcycle sales statistics and figures information has become popular enough to warrant its own page.  This information is compiled from various sources around the world regarding motorcycle sales numbers and trends.  Contribute your information by sending it to 

BMW 2009 Motorcycle Sales Totals Reported

BMW reported total worldwide motorcycle sales final numbers for 2009 (wBW report), including Husqvarna sales, which were surprisingly strong.

Motorcycle Production 2009 - Japan

The Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) reported their statistics on the number of motorcycles produced during the 2009 calendar year.

U.S. Motorcycle Sales 2009 and Totals for 1992 - 2009

January 22, 2010 - I updated our chart showing U.S. motorcycle sales figures, which now covers 1992 to 2009.  These are gross numbers, including motorcycles (street bike, dual-sport and off-road) and scooters.  The numbers were compiled from various public sources but most of the sources probably trace back to the Motorcycle Industry Council, who tracks motorcycle sales in the U.S.A.

Note, however, that if a motorcycle manufacturer isn't an MIC member, their sales may not be reflected in these numbers.  But overall, this is about as good of an indication as you will find.

Note that motorcycle and scooter sales are now just about back to where they were in 1999, fully 10 years ago, a dramatic decrease by any meausure.

Here are the gross sales figures for 2009 and a comparison to 2008:

In related news, Harley-Davidson reported a loss in Q4 2009.  The company has been reorganizing by laying off staff, closing factories, ending Buell and selling MV Agusta, only purchased last year.

Shipments of H-D motorcycles fell 27 percent in 2009 to 223,023, a level not seen since around 2001.  Harley said it expects shipments to fall 5 -10 percent to as low as 200,000 in 2010.

Triumph Reports Record UK Sales

January 12, 2010 - British motorcycle manufacturer Triumph delivered record UK sales in 2009, despite the global recession leading to a 10% drop in the UK’s large capacity motorcycle market.

The iconic brand increased sales in its home market by 26% in 2009, selling 7450 new motorcycles and overtaking Kawasaki to be the fourth largest big bike brand in the UK. Triumph finished the year very strongly, outselling all manufacturers in the month of November and trailing Honda by just 1 unit in December in the UK +500cc sector.

In the space of 12 months Triumph’s market share of the UK 500cc+ market has increased from 9.2% to 13%.  This trend has been mirrored around the world, with Triumph increasing its market share in all major markets in which it operates, maintaining its position as the world’s fastest growing motorcycle brand.

Triumph’s success has been attributed to several factors, not least its wide range of critically acclaimed products, which has ensured a broad appeal to different types of riders.  From high-powered sports bikes, to laid-back cruisers, Triumph has established leading models in every category.

The company has seen strong growth in the UK across the range, with highlights including the high-performance Daytona 675, which saw sales increase by over 50% following the model’s winning performances on the racetrack. 

The middleweight Street Triple and Street Triple R also continue to dominate their sector, winning both Bike magazine's Bike of the Year award and MCN's Best Naked Bike of 2009.

Other new models introduced in 2009 were extremely well received, with a number opening up new categories for the brand.  Sales of the latest version of the Triumph Bonneville have more than doubled, proving the new model is retaining the iconic status of the original bike.

The new Thunderbird cruiser, winner of US Cycle World’s ‘Best Cruiser’ award, has proved to be such a hit with consumers that waiting list orders cannot be fulfilled until March.

Triumph’s strong, dedicated dealer network has also been a key factor in the company’s continuing success, with Triumph specialist A1 Moto named the winning dealer of the year in the 2009 Rider Power Survey.  Three other Triumph dealers were included in the top 10.

Paul Stroud, Director of Global Sales and Marketing at Triumph said, “I’m delighted with our sales growth here in the UK market.  Our strategy of developing class leading motorcycles and working closely with our dealer partners to deliver a great customer experience is really working and helping to deliver a strong performance globally.  In the last 12 months Triumph has increased its global market share from 3.4% to 4.4%.

The Triumph press release also addressed sales outside the UK:

Triumph Motorcycles has declared the company’s continued gains in market share and year-end increase in sales were a successful conclusion to a very challenging 2009, which also marked the 15th anniversary that Triumph returned to North America.

Triumph has consistently gained market share in the United States every year for the past five years according to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC).  The sustained growth makes Triumph one of the fastest growing motorcycle manufacturers in country and one of only two marques that never lost market share in that time period.

Sales of Triumph motorcycles in the United States increased 5.49 percent in December 2009 over the same period the prior year, which is significant as most manufacturers reported double digit decreases.

Triumph also did extremely well in Canada by producing a year-long sales increase of more than 20 percent over the same period in 2008.  The achievement makes Triumph the fastest growing motorcycle brand in Canada.

BUY YOUR Motorcycle GPS, Electronics, Training Videos, Books and More at the wBW Amazon.com Store!

BMW 2009 Sales Report Preview

January 11, 2010 - Here's how deep the economy has sunk: BMW took a 22% sales hit from already-depressed 2008 figures and calls it a victory. 

The sad part is that it is. 

BMW's press release of January 10, 2010 is entitled "BMW Motorrad USA Strongest Brand in Declining Motorcycle Market".  It goes on to say "According to just-released Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) reports, BMW Motorrad USA outperformed all of its competitors in 2009". 

Sounds good so far!  But read on: 

"Despite a U.S. motorcycle market that declined 41 percent and lost nearly 360,000 units, BMW motorcycle sales only declined 22 percent, which was the smallest decline among all motorcycle brands.  This follows on the heels of 2008 when BMW Motorrad USA was one of only two motorcycle manufacturers to post positive growth.

“Our dedicated dealers were the key to our success this past year,” commented Todd Andersen, BMW Motorrad USA Marketing Manager.  “Despite the tough market, they continued serve our customers well and promote our new products like the K 1300 S and the K 1300 GT.  They were supported by attractive financing programs from BMW Financial Services.  While many other dealers struggled to finance their customers’ purchases, BMW dealers never lost access to good financing, and this will continue for 2010.”

“We expect significant sales growth in 2010,” said Andersen, “on the strength of the launch of the production version of the S 1000 RR Superbike, the most powerful and sophisticated sport bike ever produced.  Our dealers have confirmed deposits on over 600 bikes and deliveries to customers will begin January 26.”

Also slated for the coming year are new versions of the most popular BMW motorcycles: the R 1200 GS, the R 1200 GS Adventure and the R 1200 RT.

Let's hope we can give you a more upbeat report in, say, Q3 2010?

Triumph on a Roll in 2009

December 14, 2009 - Various European reports and our sources indicate that Triumph as one of the only motorcycle manufacturers to hold relatively steady in 2009; a year that has experienced what is described as the worst recession in the world since the 1930's.

While world streetbike sales have slipped over 30% from 2007-2008 levels, Triumph says they opened 39 new stores and have increased their market share in every country in which they operate, at the expense of other motorcycle manufacturers.

This isn't to say that Triumph's sales have increased dramatically; just that they are doing better than the other motorcycle manufacturers during the recession.  It remains to be seen if and when motorcycle sales will return to pre-2008 levels and how Triumph will fare if that happens.

Triumph has done remarkably well with its 675cc series; the company claims that over 15% of the Supersport class (600cc-750cc) bikes sold in the UK in 2009 were Triumphs, while Bonneville sales have increased by 100%.  Triumph's market share in the UK is reported to be 13%, up from 9% at the end of 2008.

However, all is relative; Triumph's total sales in the UK totaled 6,741 units in 2009 and the Motorcycle Industry Association (MIA) in the UK reported that UK motorcycle registrations were down 26.8% to 10,465 in July of 2009 and were down a total of 16.8% by the midpoint of 2009 when compared with January to July 2008.

Japan Motorcycle Production - January to September 2009

The Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) reported the following statistics for the first three quarters of calendar year 2009, as summarized in the table below. 

Meanwhile, October news is also bleak, with JAMA reporting motorcycle production in October 2009 as 51,018 units, down 69,105 units or 57.5%.  The October 2008 production figures were 120,123 units.  Motorcycle Exports from Japan in October 2009 totaled 41,143 units, down 49,559 units, approx. 55% of the October 2008 figure of 90,702 units.

Motorcycle Production by Engine Displacement and Manufacturer
January 2009 to September 2009
[Changes from the previous year (%)]

See Also:  Japanese Motorcycle Production for Q1-Q2 (Below)

Japanese Motorcycle Production 1993 to 2008

We compiled this interesting graph based on data from the Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).  Here is a large (800px) version (JavaScript Window).

Note that the sea blue line indicates the total production of over 50cc motorcycles and is not added to the red total line.  The red total line is the sum of the straw, violet, light blue and green lines.

Data for the Graph Shown Above

Q3 U.S. Motorcycle Sales

October 20, 2009 - Our sources tell us that U.S. motorcycle sales remain dismal, now 3/4 of the way through 2009.  The first 9 months of the year indicate dual-sport sales are down 44%; street bike sales are down 44%; off-road motorcycle sales down 33%; scooter sales down a whopping 62% from the big sales rise in 2008 due to high fuel costs. 

Sum it up and motorcycle sales totaled just 434,370 so far this year, down from 771,950 in the first 9 months of 2008 for a drop of 337,580, which makes overall sales down 44%.

BUY GEAR with this link to the Motorcycle Superstore and help support webBikeWorld!

Worldwide Motorcycle Demand to Increase Through 2013

September 2009 - Worldwide demand for motorcycles will grow at a rate of approximately 8% per year for the next 5 years.  This is according to The Freedonia Group, Inc., a "leading international industry market research company that provides its clients with information and analysis needed to make informed strategic decisions for their businesses.

They recently released a $5,700.00 USD detailed study with country-by-country data on motorcycle growth.  Who buys a $5,700 report on this topic is puzzling, but the press information they released had some interesting tidbits. 

They say that "normal" motorcycles with internal combustion engines will still remain the primary type sold, but electric motorcycle sales will grow.  Also, motorcycle sales in Africa, the Middle East and the Asia/Pacific markets will experience the fastest growth levels.

This makes sense, as motorcycles have traditionally been a relatively inexpensive form of transportation in emerging economies for the last 100 years or so.

They also said that electric motorcycles are already very popular in China, a country which they say will account for 55 percent of all additional motorcycle sales worldwide through 2013, but traditional motorcycles will account for about 95% of sales elsewhere.  Finally, there are still some underserved markets that will experience high growth levels; countries like Nigeria, Philippines and Vietnam.

Factoid: BMW Motorcycle Production in 2008

April 22, 2009 - The BMW Group today reported that 101,964 motorcycles were produced in the Berlin plant in 2008, ranking 8 for total output of the 24 BMW manufacturing facilities located in 13 countries.  2,000 BMW associates are employed at the plant (51 motorcycles per employee).

The Husqvarna Motorcycles S.r.l. manufacturing plant in Cassinetta di Biandronno, Italy produced 14,232 motorcycles with 268 employees (53 per employee).

Just for comparison, the #1 ranked plant for total number of vehicles produced was the BMW Munich plant, which produces the BMW 3 Series Sedan, Touring and engines.  That plant has 8,000 employees and 2008 production was 202,992 automobiles and 131,254 engines.

GEAR UP at the Motorcycle Superstore and help support webBikeWorld!

Japanese Motorcycle Manufacturing Totals for 2008

Motorcycle production in December 2008 was recorded as 112,024 units or -10.6 compared with the total recorded for the same month of the previous year.  This is a production decrease on the same month of the previous year for sixteen consecutive months.

Motorcycle production for calendar year 2008 (January - December) was recorded as 1,226,839 units, -26.8% compared with the units total recorded for the previous year.  This is the third consecutive year of production decreases over the previous year.

Source: JAMA, January 2009

Selected Worldwide Motorcycle Statistics

Interesting motorcycle ownership and use graphs and charts courtesy of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

More