Yamaha Motor Australia director/general manager Steven Cotterell has spoken of the company’s success after it topped the first quarter retail figures and leads the motorcycle and ATV sales charge in 2011.

The blue brand has a healthy 18.8 percent motorcycle market share from January to March compared to Honda’s 14.8 percent, and Cotterell says there’s much more to selling bikes than simply offering a great product at an affordable price.

“Offering a great product at the right price is a given but it’s no longer good enough to post strong retail results,” he explained.

“YMA strives to offer more and one of the main reasons for our increased market share is the strong business partnership we share with our dealer network.

“Business initiatives such as restocking bonus, profit retention scheme and comprehensive promotional packages place our dealer network at a competititve advantage and mean they can offer more to our customers.

“The great news is that the market looks to be expanding, and Yamaha is in the ideal position to capitalise on market growth. The first quarter figures suggest that we are heading in the right direction.

“The product is excellent, the systems are in place, and our dealers are firing on all cylinders.”

Yamaha continues to dominate the off-road sector of the motorcycle market with sales of YZ-F motocross bikes once again ruling the roost.

Other standout models include the newly released YZF-R15 which comes straight in at number three in its class and the learner-legal FZ6R, which tops the sports touring category.

Yamaha continues to dominate the fun bike sector occupying five of the top six best selling spots including first and second place with PW50 and TT-R50E.

Special mention also goes to TT-R250 – which is currently Australia’s best selling 250cc enduro bike – and the AG200 which is the most popular farm bike. Both have both posted large retail increases.

In the cruiser sector, Yamaha’s XV650/A continues to appeal to a wide range of riders with its low seat height and leaner approval status.

ATV retails are equally bouyant with Yamaha again at the top of the pile with 25.2 percent share against second placed Honda at 23.8 percent.