Black Book’s most recent report showed typical trending seasonal declines in the powersports industry.
“The holidays are upon us, with Halloween in the rear view mirror and Thanksgiving fast approaching, and the powersports market is slowing down accordingly. After last month’s across the board drops, we see more of the same this month, with all segments, except snowmobiles, down,” said Scott Yarbrough, senior analyst of motorcycle and powersports.
Domestic V-Twin cruisers dropped 4.6% this month, nearly doubling the 2.7% decline in the metric units. When coupled with the street bikes and scooters, which each dropped 2.5%, and the dual aports at -2.2%, the domestic cruisers took a disproportionate hit relative to the rest of the road going segments, doubling the declines in some of the others.
Off-road as a group fared better than the on-road units, with ATVs and utility vehicles down 1.1% and 2.0% respectively. The one area in off-road that did show significant decreases were the dirt bikes, down a rather substantial 4.8%.
Declining markets this time of year are not unusual, but the precipitous drop in V-Twin prices is a little unexpected. Falling prices in the fall is a theme we have mentioned quite a bit over the years in Market Matters, and it is the degree of the decline that matters the most. For this reason, the drop in domestic cruisers is worth keeping an eye on in the future to see whether this is a one time adjustment, a market blip, or part of a larger trend. The rest of the segments are mostly within the normal ranges we typically see this time of year. The drop in dirt bike prices is a bit less concerning, as the dollar amounts with these units are much smaller, even though the percentage drop appears large.
Link: Black Book