Sales of motorcycles and scooters continued to decline in the second quarter in Switzerland. At the end of June, the market posted a contraction of 15.2% on an annual basis to 30,705 vehicles sold.
Motosuisse evokes a phase of normalization, after the enthusiasm boosted by the pandemic crisis.
“We are very satisfied with the current level of sales, which has returned to that of before the pandemic,” a spokesperson for the umbrella of importers told AWP on Friday. The contraction of the market mainly concerns motorcycles, where sales between January and June fell by 22.1% compared to the same period a year earlier to 18,611 machines.
More than a quarter of the decline of nearly 5,300 vehicles can be attributed to the 125cc category, which benefited last year from an effect linked to a modification for obtaining the corresponding license.
“Difficulties in the supply of certain electronic components are reflected in delivery delays, in particular in high-end models,” said the Motosuisse communicator. Sales of displacements between 500 and 1000cc have also fallen sharply, according to statistics published by the association.
Electrical exception
In the scooter segment, some 10,600 units have been sold since the start of the year, just 2.4% less than in the first six months of 2021. A notable exception, the electric vehicle category has saw its sales increase to 300 units (+26.6%).
In the list of manufacturers, all segments combined, the Japanese Yamaha remains in the lead despite a drop of more than 2,000 units sold (-27.8% to 5,267), far ahead of its compatriot Honda, whose volumes remained almost stable at 4,275 units. . The Italian Vespa completes the podium with 2,632 scooters sold (-6.4%).
For the rest of the operations, the market situation remains uncertain, ‘due in particular to inflation and the war in Ukraine, which tends to inhibit purchases linked to leisure, where the motorcycle figures prominently’, argues the Motosuisse spokesperson.
And lovers of two-wheelers will no doubt be called upon to pay more to satisfy their passion. “Given the increase in transport, raw material and energy prices, price increases will also be inevitable in the motorcycle sector”, warns the manager, although it is currently still difficult to say. assess the magnitude.
/ATS