best selling motorcycle company in the usa

[frozenpoet]

And the winner is...honda. the article even calls the nc700x a amazing success.
5 of the World's Best-Selling Motorcycle Brands. Do You Know Who's No. 1? (PII)

 

[Bug Dr.]

It's interesting that they mention the NC directly as being a hot item. I wish publicly traded companies would provide more detail in model specific sales figures. Of course it wouldn't matter to the average investor but it would be interesting to look at. I'd wager that the Goldwing makes up a very large percentage of the bikes sold in the US.
Mike

 

[frozenpoet]

Cbr, goldwing, and the nc700x would be my guess.

 

[Bug Dr.]

My local dealer would have to be: Goldwing, cruiser (various models), CBR and NC. I know that dealers get paid a kickback from Honda based on units sold which includes generators, ATVs, UTVs and motorcycles. My local dealer has very competitive prices nationwide so it can increase it's number of units sold. The owner pretty much relies on the kickbacks as income and just makes enough from sales to pay the salesmen and keep the lights on. They used to bounce between number two and three in the nation behind the dealership in Chattanooga, TN and Shawnee, OK. I'm not sure if that still holds true.

I've heard that Honda makes more combustion engines worldwide than any other manufacturer. The article said they sell 15 million motorcycles. That is a huge number of engines and it doesn't include autos, generators, etc.. so I guess I believe that tidbit of information.

Given the reliability of Honda motors, I wonder if they are close to reaching a level of saturation on a global scale. I can't think of where their growth areas might be in the future. I'm not a shareholder so I don't listen to or read their quarterly earning conference calls.
Mike

 

[670cc]

Comment on the thread title: I read the article to mean Honda motorcycles were "best selling in the world", not "best selling in the USA".

No?

 

[frozenpoet]

It was the world, but they were also the best selling in the usa. I blame all this on my phone, makes it harder to make sure I know what I'm talking about lol.

 

[DominusFL]

Better selling than Harley in USA?

 

[frozenpoet]

In North America the company also dominates, with 153,000 bikes sold, a 43% increase over the previous year. Honda has seen sales boosted by the incredible success of its new NC700X model in North American markets.

 

[silverhound]

Better selling than Harley in USA?

Probably not if you look at just the "cruiser" segment of the market but remember Honda includes dirt bikes, ATVs and scooters in their "Motorcycle" unit numbers as well as all the other models. Also we need to remember that "North America" includes Canada and Mexico so the 153,000 units were not just US. It would be interesting to see what the exact numbers are just for the US. I'm guessing Harley still holds the dominant position here in the US.

 

[Old Can Ride]

It's interesting that they mention the NC directly as being a hot item. I wish publicly traded companies would provide more detail in model specific sales figures. Of course it wouldn't matter to the average investor but it would be interesting to look at. I'd wager that the Goldwing makes up a very large percentage of the bikes sold in the US.
Mike

Motorcycle sales are down 5.2% through the first six months of 2013. The sales data, reported by the Motorcycle Industry Council, shows an overall decline year to date, but Q2 isolated shows gains in key riding segments.

On-Highway motorcycle sales, the largest MIC segment and including all street-legal bikes excepting Scooters and Dual-sport models, total 183,332 for the year. The six-month tally represents a 10,199 unit decline of 5.3%.

The Motorcycle Industry Council is always 6 mouths behind in reporting the numbers.

 

[Fuzzy]

Small article in today's Wall Street Journal stated Harley sales in 2013 dropped from 58% to 55% of U.S. large motorcycle market. Large motorcycle is defined as 600cc and larger which puts us in the group.

 

[silverhound]

Small article in today's Wall Street Journal stated Harley sales in 2013 dropped from 58% to 55% of U.S. large motorcycle market. Large motorcycle is defined as 600cc and larger which puts us in the group.

Not surprised. I think that their marketshare will continue to slowly erode unless they make some big changes with product line and marketing.

 

[SergeantChuck]

Small article in today's Wall Street Journal stated Harley sales in 2013 dropped from 58% to 55% of U.S. large motorcycle market. Large motorcycle is defined as 600cc and larger which puts us in the group.

Did it speculate on why?

 

[MZ5]

Not surprised. I think that their marketshare will continue to slowly erode unless they make some big changes with product line and marketing.

Their new 500 & 750cc bikes represent a significant change such as you mention, IMO. I think they'll sell the heck out of them, but then I'm frequently wrong about what 'people' will want. Seems they all have very, very odd taste (compared to me).

 

[silverhound]

Their new 500 & 750cc bikes represent a significant change such as you mention, IMO. I think they'll sell the heck out of them, but then I'm frequently wrong about what 'people' will want. Seems they all have very, very odd taste (compared to me).

Agreed that the two new models "break the mold" of their traditional product line and I think that's a step in the right direction but I'm not sure that will be enough. When they introduced the V-Rod, that was also claimed to be the "future of HD" but has not been all that successful. Lot's of variables so time will tell.

 

[MZ5]

Too true, silverhound. Harley's primary customer base (my brother is a staunch H-D rider and supporter, though he's not particularly representative of the majority of their customers) doesn't give a fig for what I would call substance. They seem to me to want:
1) The specific name plate on the side,
2) A particular look,
3) A general sound (IME most can't identify various different V-twin engines when blindfolded), and
4) ...that's very nearly it.

The V-rod didn't/doesn't offer that I guess, and apparently the 'new blood' they were trying to attract wasn't that interested, either(?).

I don't own any sort of cruiser. They're not really my 'thing.' I do hope H-D can make the transition, though. I don't wish to see them go out of business (again?).

 

[silverhound]

Too true, silverhound. Harley's primary customer base (my brother is a staunch H-D rider and supporter, though he's not particularly representative of the majority of their customers) doesn't give a fig for what I would call substance.

That's kinda where I was going with my thought process...Harley may very well become a victim of their own marketing that has sustained them for years. American - V-twin - Big Metal - Exclusive - Rebel - Chrome - Noise. Now they are going to produce bikes for the "average guy/gal". They lose their edge and become less differentiated from the rest of the manufacturers. They also alienate their existing demographic by "selling out". It's a slippery slope. They already can no longer say "Made in America" on any of their bikes but rather "Assembled in America" because they use too many foreign parts. I don't think they are going to attract a lot of current riders who are already riding metric bikes and I think they will homogenize their model line to the extent they start to lose a lot of existing riders.

IMO They should re-brand the new bikes and V-Rod to retain the HD "pedigree" but come up with another name so that the current/traditional Harley riders can save face and still feel they are in an exclusive club. Similar to what Yamaha did with it's cruisers creating the Star brand. Just my rambling thoughts...

 

[Mike Cash]

.... They lose their edge ..

It is unspeakably refreshing to run across the word "lose" spelled correctly on the internet. I could shed a happy tear.

 

[670cc]

It is unspeakably refreshing to run across the word "lose" spelled correctly on the internet. I could shed a happy tear.

I shed a sad tear every time I see the (mis)use of "your" in place of "you're" on the Internet.

 

[SergeantChuck]

I know my dealer had a hard time keeping the NC in stock because it sold so well. The new CTX models have also sold well, but not as strongly as the NC. He has yet to receive any of the 2014 NC models. I also own a Sportster and frequent my local HD dealership and there is a lot of negative feedback already from the die-hard HD crowd over the new bikes. Even the salesmen don't seem very enthusiastic over the new designs. It's not a good sign when your local dealers don't even support a product.

For whatever reason they don't seem to be selling well in my part of Arkansas. I bought mine in May 2013. They had two in stock. They had both since Honda introduced them in the US. The last time I had my bike at the dealer (Nov) the red one was still there.

My supervisor is a big Harley guy. Gives me a bad time constantly about owning Honda's. He has made a few comments like the new Harley are cute. I think these new bikes might sell but the standard Harley crowd (based off my bosses comments) don't want the baby bike. They talk smack about the 883 sportster as it is. These are even smaller.