Fourth record month of motorcycle sales in Thailand
The Staff of Clutch and Chrome
June 18th 2008
The bright spot
for sales in the motorcycle industry appears to be Thailand
with its fourth consecutive month of
growth.
Driven by
seasonal sales and higher farm product prices sales in May
increased 1.65% year-on-year to 150, 126 units and grew
significantly by 15% from 130,795 units in April. The growth
follows a slow start to the year when January sales
decreased to 143,208 units from 150,685 units in January
last year.
High gas prices and key customers such as farmers have also
been enjoying higher incomes from price gains in key
products all contributed to the growth in motorcycle sales.
The style and engine size of Thailand's motorcycle market
looks different to those found in the United States or
Europe. The average Thailand biker rider motorcycles with
smaller engines and are less expensive.
A total of 67,293 units registered in May were automatic
transmission models or 45% of the market. Cumulative sales
in the first five months were 709,143 units, up 2% from
695,464 in the same period last year.
Honda remained the market leader, selling 486,091 units for
a 70% share but its sales dropped by 0.4%. Rival Yamaha saw
its sales rise 13.6% to 181,824 units for a 23% share.
Suzuki sold 29,612 motorcycles while Kawasaki was fourth
with 3,804.
JRD, the
Malaysian brand, sold only 1,511 units and Platinum, the
Chinese brand sold 1,282 units. Tiger, the Thai brand sold
452 units. |
