High fuel prices drive bike sales

High fuel prices drive bike sales By The Nation

Published on July 28, 2008







The motorcycle market experienced 3-per-cent growth in the first half of the year, with new motorcycle registrations of 870,000 units.

Overall, motorcycle sales last month broke a 21-month record, from September 2006 and totalled 163,501 units, or a 7-per-cent increase compared to the same period last year.

AP Honda said the company had taken advantage of the present situation by offering fuel-efficient programmed-fuel-injection (PGM-FI) technology in its products.

Consequently, the family motorcycle was the only category that took the highest market share, scoring a growth rate of 22 per cent, due to its high fuel economy.

AP Honda's sales director Teerapat Chivapong said the number of motorcycle registrations from January to June totalled 872,644 units, compared with 848,055 units during the same period last year, equivalent to a 3-per-cent increase.

"This was driven by many factors, especially higher commodity prices which have allowed farmers, the core target consumer, to have higher income and purchasing power," Teerapat said.

"Additionally, with the oil price increase, some car-users have switched to using motorcycles in order reduce fuel use and save money."

According to registration data, all main motorcycle models' growth rate has increased. Family motorcycles scored the highest growth rate of 4 per cent, or 442,106 units, and were the ones that grew in market share, from 50 per cent last year to 51 per cent.

"This is due to economical features, especially those with the PGM-FI system. The most popular model in the family category is the Wave 125i, which had 22-per-cent growth, reflecting consumers' interest in fuel-injection technology," he said.

In the other categories, automatic-transmission motorcycles had a 45-per-cent market share and sales of 396,061 units, up 2 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

Family-sport models earned  3-per-cent of market share and sales of 25,272 units, with a 2-per-cent decline in their growth rate. Sport models had 1-per-cent of market share, with a growth rate of 3 per cent and sales of 5,789 units, while other categories recorded sales of 3,416 units.

Teerapat said the oil-price hike and the slowing down of the economy would continue to be a point of worry for consumers during the next six months, which would encourage more and more consumers to switch to motorcycles in the near

future.