With registrations rising at the current rate it was no surprise to hear the trade has been particularly busy lately, says Glass’s Guide.Â
However, Randal Thomas, Chief Editor, Leisure Vehicles for Glass’s, said there was also an indication of a regional divide, with reports that bouts of poor, or very poor. weather, especially in the North, were thoroughly unfavourable for riding and were having some impact on sales rates.
According to the company’s most recent survey, demand for new motorcycles was higher for 57% of the dealers who responded, while 29% reported it was lower, leaving 14% to state that demand had fallen. “To some extent that was considered to be a franchise-related weakness rather than a weakening in consumer interest,” said Thomas. “Discounts were reported as having stayed level by 70% with the remainder evenly split between discounts higher and lower.”
The picture for consumer finance penetration was also balanced overall but with views more wide spread, 43% reporting a consistent finance sales rate while two groups, each of 29%, reported penetration as either better or worse.
Regarding new stockholding, dealers’ opinions were similarly diverse and although only an average of 3% of this was pre-registered, some respondents had already registered as much as 20% of their stocks.
The survey revealed business confidence was reasonably high, with almost 30% anticipating that transaction volumes could yet increase and all others that volumes would continue unchanged. However, regarding profitability, while 14% expected this might increase and 72% that margins would remain unchanged, the remaining 14% anticipated a decline.
Non-availability of new stock from manufacturers and importers is a continual bug bear for dealers and, in spite of fresh shipments arriving, the situation rarely seems to get any better; at least there should be plenty available by NovemberÂ
Used Sales
The used market has also been doing reasonably well lately, according to Glass’s survey, with high levels of showroom traffic being reported. In addition, given the often limited choice of second-hand machines available in many retailers at the current time, it was apparent that prospective buyers were often quick to commit when presented with an attractive and well-priced example of the model or style they sought. However, as described in New Sales, activity would fall off sharply when weather conditions were challenging.
Despite that, nearly 60% of respondents indicated that recent consumer demand for second-hand motorcycles had been higher than during the same period in 2014, while the remainder stated that demand was stable; there were no reports yet of any decline.
Regarding stockholdings of used machines the picture was mixed, with respondents evenly split between their stocks being higher, level or lower. To the question of whether their stocks were sufficient for anticipated demand the feedback was more consistent, with 70% now stating that stocks were about right but the remainder still considering that their stocks were too low. That does indicate that supply of second-hand machines to the market has increased somewhat and is now tending towards a better balance with retail demand.
It has been particularly noticeable that entry volumes at recent auctions have risen, while at the same time attendance numbers seem to have declined. With fewer of the usually keen trade buyers in attendance bids have been somewhat lower, and as a consequence more lots are failing to reach the reserve price. In some cases after-sale negotiation achieves an agreement, otherwise they are unsold and must be offered elsewhere.
“Although we are not yet hearing that availability of the most desirable and readily saleable stock has improved significantly, there are perhaps the first indications of caution within the trade. That is entirely understandable as many consider that the market tends to wane after the TT has taken place, although this view is not universally held and there are still plenty of selling days ahead; at least up to the start of the peak holiday period. This then tends to divide trade opinion, so that retailers who already believe things are beginning to slow down will become increasingly cautious regarding what they consider machines are worth, while those whose showrooms are still busy continue to search for stock and will even now pay strong money to secure it, and also to make sure someone else doesn’t,” said Thomas.
To reflect the current market conditions and the fact that this July signals the entry into the second half of the year there has been a modest marking down across most road motorcycle sectors.?
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