2T vs 4T sales

[tm_enduro]

Has anyone seen any sales trends data on 2T vs 4T bikes? The small euro mfgs are producing and selling 2T bikes, but are the sales numbers significant? I've heard anecdotally that KTM sells every 2T they bring to NA, and that 4T sales for many mfgs are going south, but have seen no data.

 

[Clay]

In the US, the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) numbers show that 4T sales are pretty strong. Unfortunately the MIC does not break out offroad from mx. It also does not give any indication of profitability versus sales. A lot of the OEMs have packages that require a dealer to take x amount of undesirable bikes to get x amount of desirable bikes. So dealers take the undesirables and dumb them at dealer cost to sell the desirable models at a profit. In other words, the sales numbers are not a true pic of what dealers and customers want. If you talk to dealers, the majority who are in the offroad (not mx) business say that 2T sales are much stonger than 4T sales.

 

[Dave]

Offroad motorcycle sales have been in a decline for several years. I would guess that the Asian big four get, conservatively, 60% of the US market (pretty much all four stroke) and KTM gets 30% with 60% being 4T. The math says it's a four stroke market.

 

[tm_enduro]

It also does not give any indication of profitability versus sales. A lot of the OEMs have packages that require a dealer to take x amount of undesirable bikes to get x amount of desirable bikes. So dealers take the undesirables and dumb them at dealer cost to sell the desirable models at a profit. If you talk to dealers, the majority who are in the offroad (not mx) business say that 2T sales are much stonger than 4T sales.

Clay
Thanks for the info. I was afraid it was too convoluted to get a true picture.
I have heard of KTM dealers that only want to sell street legal bikes and the 300 2T, since they are the only models that sell out at MSRP.

 

[Clay]

Dave,
Here are the actual registrations from the OEMs in the "Competition Off Highway" segment:
2011 2010
Total 40,308 45,195
Hon 8,391 10,802
Kaw 9,526 8,913
KTM 12,643 10,788
Suz 1,873 2,822
Yam 7,392 11,558

KTM sells 31.4% of the total offroad motorcycles sold. Back in 2005, they were still behind Honda and Yamaha with 18 or 19%. I think they finally passed Honda last year. KTM has done one hell of a job here in the US and having a full line of 2T models has been a big part of that success.
Keep in mind this category does not include Honda's 50s, 80s, 100s, Kawasaki's 110s, etc but it does include KTM's 50s, 65s, etc because they are race bikes.


Sorry the columns aren't separated. They were in my original text but not when I submit it.