After first forecasting a sales decline for 2012, the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) has tallied the number of motorcycles sold in the United States last year, and once again discovered that the motorcycle industry is slowly, but surely recovering from the recession. With the US making a very slight 0.3% sales gain in 2011, A&R‘s home market has posted a 2.6% gain over the figures from 2011, with OEMs selling 452,386 motorcycles in 2012.
Though all the two-wheeled segments showed growth in the MIC’s figures, it was the dual-purpose and scooter market that posted the biggest gains, 7.4% and 7.7% respectively. For the street bike market, sales were up a modest 1.8%, despite a much larger gain made by Harley-Davidson, which dominates over half of the US on-road market by volume. Dirt bikes also posted a modest 2.1% growth, with 71,535 units sold in 2012.
A positive sign for the American motorcycle market, the growth still shows that the course is slow to change for motorcycling, and it could be several years before a full recovery is made. With gas prices starting to rise again, it will be interesting to see how this affects motorcycle sales, and which segments benefit from the changes.
| 2012 | 2011 | Change | % Change | |
| DUAL | 28,452 | 26,483 | +1,969 | +7.4% |
| OFF-HWY | 71,535 | 70,046 | +1,489 | +2.1% |
| ON-HWY | 318,105 | 312,520 | +5,585 | +1.8% |
| SCOOTER | 34,294 | 31,850 | +2,444 | +7.7% |
| TOTAL | 452,386 | 440,899 | +11,487 | +2.6% |
| ATV | 225,244 | 222,032 | +3,212 | +1.4% |
Source: MIC; Photo: David Stuttard (Coroflot)
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