MOTORCYCLE NEWS - SUMMER 2007
Here's some motorcycle news from http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-news/blog/
The Accident Statistics released for 2006 are sad, but predictable. Motorcycle deaths went UP 5% in 2006, from 4576 to 4810, and injuries increased 1%, from 87,000 to 88,000. This is still a far cry from the 30,500 killed and 2.3 MILLION injured in passenger cars in 2006, but the injury/death numbers for cars are going down while the injury/death numbers for motorcycles continue to climb!
U.S. Motorcycle Accidents Increase for 9th Straight Year; Now Higher Than Pedestrian Deaths
July 23, 2007 - The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released their annual Traffic Safety Assessment for 2006 (.pdf file) today, and motorcycle deaths have unfortunately increased for the ninth straight year. In fact, the 4,810 motorcycle deaths in 2006 now exceed pedestrian deaths at 4,784. Motorcycle fatalities in 2006 increased by 234 (5.1%) over 2005 (4,576). 88,000 motorcyclists were injured in accidents in 2006, an increase of 1,000 from 2005.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reported on an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Transport Forum study on July 24 that the U.S. now ranks 42 out of 48 countries in the number of road fatalities per capita (all vehicles, not just motorcycles). Australia, Britain, France, Germany and Japan all have made significant improvements but the U.S. has not.
The U.S. was No. 1 in 1970 in fatalities per distance driven but now ranks 11th, with some countries reporting rates that are 25 percent lower. Here's a graphic comparing the accident rates over time.
U.S. Motorcycle Sales Report for January - June 2007
July 24, 2007 - U.S. Motorcycle sales are mixed over the first 6 months of 2007. Dual Sport sales continue to improve, with a sales gain of +2.8% from 2006 for a total of 21,322 in the first two quarters of 2007.
Meanwhile, sales of off-road motorcycles are continuing to suffer. There were 19,340 fewer sold so far in 2007 over 2006, which is a 15% decrease. So far only 109,893 off-road bikes have been sold this year.
Street bike sales are also off slightly, down 5.0% from the same time period in 2006, with 389,765 units sold, compared to 410,421 sold during the first 6 months of 2006. Scooter sales were relatively steady, down 0.6% (181 units) at 29,719 versus 29,900 for the same time period in 2006.
First Quarter of 2006 U.S. Motorcycle Sales and Statistics
April 26, 2007 - First quarter 2007 motorcycle sales are off from the first quarter of 2006, with street bike sales down 3,259, a drop of 2.6%; off-road bike sales dropped 17.8%; scooter sales down 4.6% while dual-purpose bikes are about stable with a 1% sales decrease.
Total current first quarter 2007 sales for off-road, dual-purpose, street bikes and scooters are 195,092, compared to 209,860 for the first quarter of 2006. This is a drop of 14,768, or 7.0% overall.
Summary of 2006 U.S. Motorcycle Sales and Statistics
March 28, 2007 - The final numbers for 2006 are in and they show a modest increase in overall motorcycle sales, which totaled 1,022,332 (Including scooter, street, dual sport and off-road types). This compares to 1,009,588 in 2005 for an increase of 1.3%.
Here's the breakdown:
| 2005 | 2006 | % Change | |
| Scooter | 56,899 | 54,268 | - 4.6% |
| Street | 646,097 | 680,679 | + 5.4% |
| Dual Sport | 29,610 | 35,245 | + 19.0% |
| Off-Road | 276,982 | 252,140 | - 9.0% |
| Total | 1,009,588 | 1,022,332 | + 1.3% |
The big surprise is the drop in scooter sales, which have been predicted to rise, based on the increased fuel prices in the U.S. The dual sport category is also interesting, with another big increase in 2006. If ATV sales (747,581, a decrease of 4.2% from 2005) are factored in, total sales dropped for the first time in 14 years of consecutive growth (18 brands included).
However, the growth in street bike sales does continue the 14 year trend. Other statistics reported by the Motorcycle Industry Council include an estimate of 8,802,000 motorcycles in use in the U.S. in 2003, the latest year for which figures are available. About 76% of these motorcycles are in the over 749cc category and 16% are 450 to 749cc's.
The largest number of motorcycles are in California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New York, with 33% of the total motorcycles in use in 2003. You may think that the West Coast has the largest number of motorcycles, with 2,187,100, but the South beats this with 2,645,100 (although this is a somewhat meaningless number due to the arbitrary numbers of states in each region).
In 2004, approximately 5.7 million motorcycles were registered for use on public roads in the U.S.A., which equals about 2.4% of all vehicle registrations. Estimates of market share for 2005, the latest year for which numbers are available, show Honda in the lead with 24% of the market, followed by Harley-Davidson and Buell with 22.6%, Yamaha at 15.9%, Suzuki at 11.8%, Kawasaki at 9.1%, KTM at 1.7%, BMW with 1.2% and "Other" at 13.7%. Why Triumph isn't broken out separately remains a mystery.
In 2005, the motorcycle industry generated an estimated $25.5 billion in consumer sales, services, state taxes and licensing, including $9.8 billion in motorcycle retail sales. Also in 2005, there were 12,013 retail outlets selling motorcycles and related products, with 148,675 employees earning an annual estimated payroll of $4.0 billion.
There's been a dramatic change in the age of motorcycle owners since 1985. For example, owners under 18 years old total only 3.7% of the percent of total ownership in 2003, compared to 14.9% in 1985, while the owners age 40 and over total 53%, compared to 21.3% in 1985.
Motorcycle injuries have been on a steady increase since 1996, from about 55,000 in 1996 to approximately 85,000 in 2005. This comes as MSF trained riders increased from about 125,000 in 1996 to about 325,000 in 2005. Fatalities have also risen dramatically, more than doubling from about 2,100 in 1996 to about 4,550 in 2005.
2006 BMW Motorcycle Sales
January 13, 2007 - BMW reports that worldwide BMW motorcycle sales for December were up 36.8 percent over the same period the previous year, while annual sales topped 100,000 units. BMW Motorrad USA, also posted increases for December as well as annual sales.
The strong performance was claimed to be due to the introduction of new models as well as the continued performance of existing models. At the head of the list was the top-selling model – the R 1200 RT – which was named “Best Touring Bike” in 2006 for the second year in a row by editors of Motorcyclist Magazine.
BMW’s R 1200 GS model – named “Best Adventure Bike” last year by Motorcyclist – accounted for the marque’s second highest volume. The F 650 GS was BMW’s third best-selling bike.
BMW Motorrad USA will introduce several new motorcycles for 2007 – the G 650 series, the F 800 series, and the K 1200 R Sport models – all of which are expected to contribute to another strong year.
100,000 motorcycles were produced and sold for the first time, which now means that over 2 million motorcycles have been sold in the company's entire history. Exactly 100,064 BMW motorcycles were sold worldwide - the highest number ever supplied by the company to customers in a single year. Compared to the previous year (97,474 units) this means a sales increase of 2.7 per cent.
And the company can boast yet another proud statistic for 2006: in December the number of all BMW motorcycles produced since 1923 reached the two million mark. By the end of the year a total of 2,061,977 motorcycles had been produced, 1,616,016 having come off the production lines of the motorcycle plant in Berlin-Spandau since 1969.
In keeping with the company’s roots, the 100,000th motorcycle was a flat twin “Boxer”, an unfaired R 1200 R in Night Black non-metallic fitted with Integral ABS.
The foundation for increased production was laid by investments made in past years. Some 117 million euros was spent on developing motorcycle production in the Berlin plant between 2001 and 2003. Today it is regarded as one of the most state-of-the-art motorcycle plants in the world.
The markets in Western Europe accounted for the lion’s share of the impressive sales results. In Germany, a total of 23,617 units had been supplied as of December, making BMW Motorrad the market leader in its home territory.
The second strongest market for the company was Italy with 13,651 units, followed by the US (12,825 units) and Spain (10,002 units).
The R 1200 GS – along with its sibling model Adventure - achieved phenomenal sales success with 31,138 units. Not only is it the market leader by far among the large-volume enduro motorcycles, it is probably one of the best-selling motorcycle models worldwide in the category over 500 cc.
Ranking in second place in terms of popularity of BMW motorcycles is the touring bike R1200 RT with 13,384 units. The single-cylinder model F 650 GS and the model variation Dakar was sold 12,511 times.
Within a decade, BMW Motorrad has become the biggest and most successful manufacturer of large-volume motorcycles in Europe. But for Dr. Herbert Diess, the managing director of BMW Motorrad, volume increase is not the ultimate objective: “Our company strategy is long-term and oriented towards the permanent profitability of all products; it is not simply geared towards volume. Rankings in registration statistics are not the main focus of our interest. We invest carefully in innovations and technologies for new models, consolidating and extending our segments and market positions. This secures a strong position within the market for us and our dealers.”
Looking ahead to 2007, BMW Motorrad starts out with five new models. The new single-cylinder series with the models G 650 Xchallenge, Xcountry and Xmoto, and the K 1200 R Sport will all be available from dealerships in Germany from March 10, 2007 and the HP2 Megamoto follows in late spring.
2006 Motorcycle Sales
November 2, 2006 - Motorcycle sales in New Zealand are reported to have been on the rise, up about 25% from 2005 to 2006, from 9,000 bikes in 2005 to 11,000 so far in 2006. The cause is thought to be high fuel prices.
October 21, 2006 - It's interesting to note that on/off road motorcycle sales continue to rise, with a 23% year-to-date increase in the first three quarters of 2006 as compared to 2005. This may be due to sales of motorcycles like the BMW R1200GS, Triumph Tiger and others, although the definition of "dual use" is not clear to us.
Meanwhile, street bike sales are running 6.6% ahead of last year, while scooter sales are, surprisingly, down 1.5% for the year.
