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As more statistics trickle in, it has become more clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has been kind to the motorcycle industry, at least in our part of the world.
Andy previously reported on record sales by some of the European manufacturers and here in the United States the Motorcycle Industry Council reported strong motorcycle sales across the board for 2021. In the second half of 2020, we saw the trend of people buying motorcycles, especially off-road and dual-sport bikes, as a way to get out and do things at a time when many other activities were restricted. That momentum carried over into 2021.
Overall motorcycle sales in the United States were 21.8 percent higher in 2021 than in 2019, the last "normal" year. (Making comparisons to 2020 can be misleading, because of the disruptions of the pandemic.) The biggest winner in the pandemic was the dual-sport category, which saw a 46.2 percent increase in 2020 over 2019 and that continued with another 18.6 percent increase in 2021. Sales of off-road motorcycles rose 42.9 percent from 2019 to 2021. Street bike sales also increased, but less dramatically.
Sales increased despite the well documented challenge of limited inventory for dealers, caused first by pandemic-related manufacturing interruptions and later by supply chain disruptions that have led to parts shortages and shipping delays, problems that are still not resolved. The limited supply of new bikes and increased interest in riding spilled over into the used motorcycle market, where prices have soared, similar to the used car market and mirroring increased inflation overall.
Motorcycle manufacturing on the home front
The major domestic motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson and Indian, are not setting sales records, like the European manufacturers, but both H-D and Indian's parent company, Polaris, are still doing well. Polaris reported slightly lower sales of Indian motorcycles in 2021, as the lineup consists entirely of street bikes, which did not surge the way off-road and dual-sport motorcycles did. But the overall company still benefited from those trends through strong sales of its four-wheel off-road vehicles. Even Slingshot sales were up.
Meanwhile, Harley-Davidson appears to be executing exactly the Hardwire plan that CEO Jochen Zeitz laid out when he took over and reversed course from the previous management. Compared to 2019, Harley-Davidson sold fewer motorcycles in 2021 but made more money. Zeitz happily reported that the company has exceeded its original goal of reducing the number of models by 30 percent. So while Harley-Davidson shipped about 25,000 fewer motorcycles in 2021 than in 2019, total revenue was almost exactly the same and net income was up by 50 percent. Stats that might normally be seen as bad news are actually a sign of implementing the plan. For example, 2021 H-D sales in Latin America were down 39 percent from 2020. That's intentional, as Harley-Davidson withdrew from marginally profitable markets.
Clearly, the pandemic has had a major effect on the motorcycle industry, presenting opportunities, challenges and shifts in consumer preferences that nobody imagined just 25 months ago. What will come next?
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