SA motorcycle sales boosted by e-commerce

New motorcycle sales in SA showed a marginal 1.7% increase for the first half of 2023 compared with the year before.

Based on year-to-date sales a forecast of just over 30,000 new units is feasible for the full year, according to Arnold Olivier, national director of the Association of Motorcycle Importers and Distributors (AMID).

“The marginal increase of 1.7% on a comparative 2022 is disappointing given the strong growth that the industry had experienced during the past few years, albeit focused on the commercial segments,” he said.

“Segment performance reflects that the commercial sector continues on an upward trajectory with 10% growth for the six months. Scooters in the first half of 2023 have performed poorly with a disappointing 33% decrease in sales, for no apparent reason.”

Olivier said the higher-priced leisure segments show an overall increase of 1.5%, but within this segment there are fluctuations varying from -25% to +29%, making it difficult to predict trends. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some sales have been lost due to consumers redirecting spend to solar/invertor home installations. ATV/Side by Side sales are down 15% compared to 2022.

Electric motorcycles and three wheelers continue to form a statistically insignificant portion of the market, but the 307% increase in registrations over the past six months suggests that importers are finding some appetite among commercial fleet owners to try EVs.

Used motorcycle sales statistics are only available up to April 2023 year-to-date, which is up 10.7% on the corresponding period for 2022.

“The industry view is that trading conditions will continue to be tough, given the high interest rates and likelihood of poor if any economic growth. Under the circumstances, very little growth is expected for the rest of the year,” said Olivier.

Annual new-motorcycle sales have nearly doubled in the past five years, mostly driven by commercial bikes as the Covid-19 pandemic boosted e-commerce consumer activity and accelerated the commercial delivery business.

There were 31,374 new units sold in 2022, an 18.4% increase on 2021, which in turn was up 28% on 2020. The market is now well above pre-pandemic sales levels, but still well off the record of 84,000 units achieved in 1981.