After the last couple of months in which values remained largely flat, February brought some movement to most, though not all, segments in the powersports market. One segment even shows almost exactly zero net change this month.
First up, the segments showing losses are the ATVs and, somewhat surprisingly, the snowmobiles. ATVs are down -.4 percent, while the drop for the sleds is -1.8 percent. Why the snowmobiles have dropped this month is a mystery, but at one recent auction, buyers were scarce and money was tight for these units. It has been a mild winter up until recently across much of the country, and this may be impacting demand for snowmobiles.
The off-road bikes have not changed in value at all this month. While a few individual units have changed slightly month over month, as a segment, there is no change versus last month’s values. We occasionally see a segment that only changes in value by a few dollars, resulting in a zero percent change, but this is the first time that the changes are less than a single dollar.
Now for the positive news: street bikes, scooters, on/off-road bikes and cruisers are all up around one percent. The beginning of the riding season is often tied to Bike Week in March in Daytona Beach, Fla. The uptick in cruiser values could be driven with dealers, mostly on the East Coast, getting some inventory ready for this major event. UTVs are up slightly at .1 percent. It does seem a little early in the year, but personal watercraft and jet boats are up 1.7 percent, signaling that the arrival of spring and warmer weather is already on the minds of the dealers buying these units at auction.