Some Non-Traditional Seasonal Movements

Some of the movements within the motorcycle and powersports market during May have varied from the more traditional seasonal changes. The powersports market heading into June is showing mixed levels of change. Six of the 10 segment categories we break the market into showed increases during the month of May.

Hello and welcome to this month’s edition of Beggs on the Specialty Markets. I’m Ricky Beggs, Editorial Director at Black Book. Some of the movements within the motorcycle and powersports market during May have varied from the more traditional seasonal changes. Let’s take a closer look at those market movements.

The powersports market heading into June is showing mixed levels of change. Six of the 10 segment categories we break the market into showed increases during the month of May. Based on seasonality alone, the downward change of the snowmobiles at -1.7 percent is totally expected, as was the increasing changes within the personal watercraft and jetboats at .9 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. In the dollar movement level, except for the jetboats, no segment type changed up or down by more than $75.

Activity at the auctions continues to be strong, primarily due to increased retail activity and the need to replace some inventory to get the last of the summer retail market interest.

We earlier mentioned the higher increase in prices this month within the jet boats, which you may recall was one of two segments called out last month for lagging behind the overall market. This time they seem to have caught up.

The other segment we called attention to last month was the ATVs. They were lagging a little behind the other segments, and are actually down .3 percent this time around. They are joined by the off road and scooter segments, both of which have also declined in value by .4 and .3 percent respectively.

For the rest of the segments we cover, the street bikes, cruisers, dual sports, and utility vehicles are all up. Dual sports and utility vehicles are up .4 percent, street bikes are up .6 percent, and cruisers are up .8 percent.

While these increases are not great, a few sub-segments of bikes are doing a little better. Sport bikes are showing a little stronger appreciation, and the domestic V-Twins are also up a touch more than the rest of the cruiser and street bike segments.

As you deal in these specialty markets we encourage you to keep the data and guide tools close at hand, since some of the traditional trends have continued to vary during 2014. With the availability of mobile solutions, data files or printed guides, we are here to support your business efforts.