Have you noticed the glut of motorcycle articles saying that the motorcycle industry is on the decline? Even the motorcycling attorneys here at Metier Law Firm have put out some articles about the recent decline of the motorcycle. But could all this doom and gloom just be a bunch of hyped up press?
The Moto-Apocalypse Is Still Pretty Far Off
In 2006, 1.19 million motorcycles were sold according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. That’s a lot of motorcycles, but only around 487,100 were sold in 2016. This has started many experts in the motorcycle industry to panic as motorcycles have seemingly lost over half their market share. But there are some background details that may actually prove that there is less to be concerned about than previously thought.
If we look back at 1990, 303,000 motorcycles were sold that year. By 1998, sales numbers were just below what they are now, and then the market grew exponentially. This growth in sales suddenly came to an end in 2009, when motorcycle sales dropped from 1.19 million in 2006 to 521,880 in 2009. This drop matches the economic crisis of 2008 known as the Great Recession. Since then, motorcycle sales have hovered just below 500,000, and that may be a good thing.
If we look at the sales figures between 1990 and 2016, we can see a bubble form and then pop after the Great Recession. However, instead of sales dropping down lower than what they were before the bubble burst, motorcycle sales have not dropped below the sales levels in 1998. As a matter of fact, sales have grown a little since the 90s.
This means that the bubble bursting may have simply been the market correcting itself and returning the industry to normal levels of growth. If you want to see this data for yourself, you can check it out on Statista, and Ultimate Motorcycling also has a great write up on this.
But remember, you can also find great motorcycling news by following the attorneys who ride at Metier Law Firm.