Motorcycle sales in Australia continued to grow significantly in the final months of 2011, according to official figures released recently by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).

A total of 109,067 new motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and scooters were delivered to customers during the full year 2011, an increase of 3226 motorcycles (or growth of three percent).

31,938 motorcycles were delivered in the fourth quarter alone (between October and December), compared with 26,750 in the third quarter.

FCAI chief executive Ian Chalmers said the recovery of motorcycle sales was encouraging given some recent years of soft sales nationwide.

“While sales of road and off-road motorcycles have remained reasonably static throughout the year, scooter and all-terrain vehicle segments have continued their impressive growth again this year,” he said.

While road bike, scooter and ATV sales increased, the only segment not to grow in 2011 was off-road motorcycles, with sales volumes declining 4.5 percent (1735 sales).

Chalmers said despite the decline in off-road segment sales, seven of the top 10 motorcycles remain off-road dirt-bikes.

“Australians continue to embrace motorcycling as a favoured recreational activity, and off-road motorcycles fill this role particularly well,” he added.

“The off-road segment remains the second largest, accounting for 36,637 sales, almost 34 percent of the total market.”

Motorcycle sales in Australia peaked in 2008, with 134,279 motorcycles delivered to customers that year.

Japanese manufacturers continue to dominate sales. Honda was the number one brand, delivering 24,024 motorcycles to the end of December.

Yamaha was in second position with 20,152 sales, followed by Suzuki (13,671), Kawasaki (9745) and Harley Davidson (6427). KTM (4812) was ranked seventh, while Husqvarna (1930) came in 10th.

Honda’s CRF50F was the most popular single model (2982 sales). Most popular motocross model was the Honda CRF250R (1182), with the Yamaha YZ450F next best on 1152 sales.

Top-selling enduro bike was once again Suzuki’s DR-Z400E (1038), ahead of the WR450F (857).

Chalmers said the industry was looking forward to 2012, with an optimistic outlook for both sales and wider industry issues.

“With favourable conditions continuing across regional areas, coupled with stable economic outlook, we see sales growing further in 2012,” he concluded.

Following a successful year in sales, Honda Motorcycles general manager Tony Hinton was positive with the outcome.

“This is a fantastic result for us, we have seen growth in many of our existing models and have also seen excellent take-up on new models we have introduced to the market,” Hinton reflected.

2011 FCAI National Sales Top 10 Report: