The start of 2023 hasn’t been great for top 500cc+ motorcycles as there was a drop in sales of 20% YoY
Big bikes are not selling as much as they used to before. After the decline reported by this segment in Dec 2022, it was speculated that sales would pick up as 2023 starts, but that has not happened in Jan 2023. In total, top 500cc+ motorcycles segment for the month of January 2023, accounted for 1,256 units as opposed to 1,570 units sold a year ago. This is a 20% decline in sales, as opposed to 2022 figures and volume loss, which stood at 314 units YoY.
RE 650 twins sales have fallen below 1,000 mark at 980 units as opposed to 1,238 units sold in 2022. Launch of new Super Meteor 650 last month did not provide a boost in sales. This directly contributed to a decline of 20.84% YoY and a volume loss of 258 units. Royal Enfield’s market share in 500cc+ motorcycles segment is 78%. With the launch of Super Meteor, sales might pick up soon.
500cc+ Motorcycles – Jan 2023 Sales
Kawasaki struck a streak with Z900, ZX-10R and Ninja 650 at 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots selling 67, 28, and 23 units respectively. All three saw positive YoY growth with ZX-10R registering 115.38% growth YoY. Suzuki has an advantage too as V-Strom 650 and Hayabusa sold 22 units each and secured 5th and 6th spots with positive growth YoY.
Triumph Tiger 660 and Trident 660 sold 20 and 19 units respectively. Trident 660 lost 24% sales YoY. Kawasaki secured 9th and 10th spots with Versys 650 and Ninja 1000 by selling 15 and 9 units respectively. Where Versys 650 saw 36.36% YoY growth, Ninja 1000 SX saw a 35.71% YoY decline. Triumph Tiger 1200 only managed to sell 7 units in Jan 2023.
Kawasaki Vulcan S and Triumph Rocket III managed to sell 4 units each. Vulcan saw a decline of 20% YoY and Rocket III with the largest production motorcycle engine in the world, declined by 69.23% YoY as opposed to 13 units sold in 2022. Kawasaki Z650 RS, Triumph Bonneville T120, Suzuki Katana, Honda Goldwing, Harley-Davidson Fat Bob and Fat Boy 114 all sold 3 units each last month.
None of these above-mentioned motorcycles registered any positive growth with Harley-Davidson Fat Bob showing the steepest decline of 62.50% YoY. Kawasaki Z650, Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic, Triumph Street Scrambler, Tiger 900, Bonneville Speedmaster and Speed Triple are the ones with 2 units sold each.
Out of these, Triumph Speed Triple doubled its figure from 1 unit sold last year to 2. Rest saw a decline in sales. All the big bikes that sold 1 unit each don’t show any kind of positive growth. These include Kawasaki W800, Versys 1000, Triumph Speed Twin, Harley-Davidson Roadking and Street Glide. Out of these Triumph Speed Twin suffered the most losses at 85.71% YoY decline.
Big Bikes With Zero Sales- Jan 2023
There are 44 entries in this list and almost a quarter of this list has sold zero units in the entire country in a month’s time. Motorcycles like Honda CBR650R, selling 20 units last year, have hit a wall. Other big bikes include Triumph Street Triple, Street Twin, Bonneville Bobber, Harley-Davidson Sportster S, 883 Iron, Forty Eight, Pan America, Electra Glide, Road Glide, Kawasaki ZH2, Aprilia RSV4 Factory and Tuono V4.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
