Bike sales surged in ‘03

The strong growth trend prevalent in the automotive sector has spilled over into the motorcycle market too as the sector enjoyed its best performance last year in nearly two decades.

The strong growth trend prevalent in the automotive sector has spilled over into the motorcycle market too as the sector enjoyed its best performance last year in nearly two decades.

The total unit sales in the motorcycle market reflected a 19,3 per cent growth at the end of 2003, above the 15 707 units sold in the corresponding period in 2002.

At 18 732 units, these were the best sales totals since 1985 which has been attributed partly to the consistently good performance of the Rand and lower interest rates.

The two-wheel section of the market did under-perform somewhat. An increase in 2003 of only 3,2 per cent on 2002 figures was noted. Not as healthy as the 12,6 per cent growth registered for the same section in 2001.

The quad (four wheel motorcycle) market has ended up with record unit sales of 8 215, a year-on-year increase of 48,9 per cent.

This is mainly due to quads becoming more accepted by South Africans as a family recreational vehicle. Some of the reasons for the quads popularity are that they are available in various sizes and fairly easy to use, covering a range of uses.