Articles

For at least three consecutive years, the U.S. pleasureboat market has been mired in a prolonged slump that has impacted virtually all traditional boat segments from the smallest entry level boats up to large inboard cruisers. Outboard boat retail sales declined 7-8% in 2005, another 5% in 2006 and are on course to decline again in excess of 10% in 2007. Gasoline sterndrive boats declined 2-3% in 2005, another 6% in 2006 and also appear to be headed for a double-digit decline for 2007.

SUMMARY

Even though the U.S, powersports reail sales market was soft last year, with most segments declining, there was a bright spot: UTVs, those side-by-side, off-road vehicles that can carry up to six passengers. Retail sales of UTVs climbed again last year, finishing the year at about 263,000 units, up nearly 11%. The big winner last year was Polaris, boosted by the overwhelming success of its 800 EFI RZR. Polaris was the leading supplier of UTVs in North America last year, grabbing nearly 20% of the golf and turf type UTVs.

Contrary to some early reports you may have read, the overall scooter market in 2007 actually experienced a slight downturn. Sales of scooter units by the OEMs reporting to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) were flat compared to the volumes sold in 2006, whereas scooter sales by the non-traditional brands actually declined. Total estimated sales were 149,000 units, a decrease of over 5% from the prior year.

Editor’s note: Power Products Marketing, a Minneapolis research firm, has been tracking the non-traditional brand ATV market for over ten years. This market consists of distributors of ATVs manufactured in Taiwan, China and to a lesser extent South Korea who do not report sales figures to the MIC. It does not include the Youth models that MIC reporting traditional OEMs such as Arctic Cat, Polaris, Can-Am, Kawasaki and Suzuki are sourcing from Taiwanese manufacturers. This report was prepared by Matthew Camp, a powersports analyst with the firm.

Despite warm weather and inventory dumping, economic woes provide weak summer sales

In our previous PWC article looking at the May year-to-date sales for 2007 we had expressed some optimism that while the market had only posted about a 1% increase over the same period last year, a strong summer could boost sales by season end to 2-3% over the 2006 volume. It is now evident that the expected boost as we entered the most important summer months did not happen and sales were flat to slightly down by season end.

2007 Season End PWC Sales

Scooters have continued to increase in popularity with U.S. consumers. Total estimated sales for 2006 were over 157,000, up more than 6% over the prior year. More people are impacted by the soaring price of gas so the appeal of flex-fuels, alternative power, lower emission vehicles and more fuel-efficient modes of transportation increases, and as a result the scooter market is experiencing a renaissance of sorts.

U.S. sales of traditional brand ATVs are currently in their third consecutive year of decline, and while some analysts might attribute this to the increasing number of Chinese imports that have flooded the market in recent years it has also become apparent that another trend is having a significant impact on ATV sales.

Despite warm weather, concerns over mortgages and economy dampen sales

After three consecutive years of flat sales, it appeared that the U.S. PWC market was finally undergoing a significant turnaround in 2005 but the 2006 year end sales figures indicated that the market had leveled off. May year-to-date sales for the 2007 season have confirmed that the market continues to inch along and may actually be up less than 1% on the same period last year. However, a strong summer could see sales increase around 2-3% over the 2006 volume.

2007 Year-To-Date PWC Sales

Editor’s note: Power Products Marketing, a Minneapolis research firm, has been tracking the non-traditional brand ATV market for nearly ten years. This market consists of distributors of ATVs manufactured in Taiwan, China and to a lesser extent South Korea who do not report sales figures to the MIC. It does not include the Youth models that MIC reporting traditional OEMs such as Arctic Cat, Polaris, Can-Am, Kawasaki and Suzuki are sourcing from Taiwanese manufacturers. This report was prepared by Matthew Camp, a powersports analyst with the firm.