So the Motorcycle Industry Council released its updated numbers this week. Overall the Motorcycle Industry is still in the toilet for much of the modern world. From Italy to Spain the numbers sound like they were added up by the Greek Economic minister, one bright spot. Scooters are selling all over the world. Even in the United States we have the first upward signs since 2008 so that's good news.
We have new dealers applying here at MRP. I hear the Rhino and UTV sales are down, but people cannot stop buying scooters. This is exactly the rebounded we needed. Gas prices are also silently coming back up. Nobody is really talking about it in the press, but for the last few weeks gas has been around $3.70 all over Miami. To me that means gas is $4. It's the new normal. Nobody is freaking out about it, they just justify filling up the SUV some other way.
Now these numbers don't include side by sides, but I know those numbers are down as well.
So scooters are up overall and we know that the number is higher that 5% simply because 90% of the Chinese companies don't report to anyone. So for every Vespa or Honda that reports you know 4 SUNL and Jonways are selling.
The MIC posts numbers on a quarterly basis. The data applies only to 19 reporting manufacturers: Aprilia, Arctic Cat, BMW, Buell, Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Husaberg, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Polaris, Suzuki, Triumph, Vespa, Victory and Yamaha.
Here at MRP we feel 2011 has turned into the year of the recovery. Things have stabalized, we are going to see a much better 2012, but this was a recovery year. New dealers are opening, the economy is slowly coming back, and many new dealers are taking the place of the ones that closed.
Now if the new dealers would stock parts and accessories instead of sending consumers to buy everything online the store churn and closure rate might it just might stabilize. One bad statistic the lifespan of the average scooter store has continued to go down from 5 years to under 4. Yes, we hear a lot about the new "local" Genuine or Kymco franchise, but the real test is how long they stay in business. We feel this number needs to go back up for a real recovery to happen.
