Sales Cool

A friend sent me a link to this article yesterday, and from the looks of it, we're starting to see the cooling of the Australian motorcycle market after its massive growth in 2008. It says that the FCAI has released stats that we've seen a 15.5% drop on motorcycle sales than in the same quarter last year.

All of last year we were seeing articles like Bike sales boom as market splutters, reading that scooter sales had risen 7.6% in 2008 due to the obvious things like the fact that it only takes $7 to fill the petrol tank on a scooter, and that the green conscience was kicking in. There also could have just been an abnormally large quantity of mid-life crises going on, which I hear is a viable hypothesis in a country with an aging population.

In Vespa related fiscal flavored news, I've also heard that the price drops we've had recently in the Vespa range (that whole 'Summer of Vespa savings' marketing shebang) are coming to an end, and prices are going to be bumped back up to what they were. Why Vespa would go down the path of discounting in the first place I'm not sure, (hey, I can't complain too much since I bought my 300 during the sales period), but it seems as soon as you start discounting a brand to boost popularity, you devalue it. Vespa's always been such a strong brand, I'm slightly at a loss as to why they went down that path.
But I guess, in the words of the dealer who told me that little snippet of news, 'Now's the time to buy!'