Industry Stats - OEM production numbers - May 2009

From Dealer News:

Japan's four main motorcycle manufacturers have slashed production and exports for 21 consecutive months, according to figures compiled by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).

Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha produced 41,181 units in May 2009, down 40.9 percent compared to the production of 69,626 units in May 2008. Honda produced 13,106 units in May 2009, down from the production of 17,415 units in May 2008; Kawasaki produced 7,423 units, down from 11,512 units; Suzuki produced 11,486 units, down from 19,214 units; and Yamaha produced 9,161 units, down from 21,482 units.

PRODUCTION BY DISPLACEMENT, MAY 2009

50cc or under…10,900 units, down 896 units or 7.6 percent

51-125cc…3,111 units, down 6,568 units or 67.9 percent

126-250cc…l5,849 units, down 3,711 units or 38.8 percent

Over 250cc…21,321 units, down 17,270 units or 44.8 percent

The four manufacturers exported 33,845 units from Japan in May 2009, down 45.5 percent compared to 62,048 units exported in May 2008. Honda exported 6,222 units in May 2009, down from 7,305 units in May 2008; Kawasaki shipped 4,775 units, down from 8,380 units; Suzuki shipped 14,109 units, down from 29,283 units; and Yamaha exported 8,739 units, down from 17,080 units.

Exports to the United States in May 2009 totaled 9,116 units, down 58.2 percent compared to 21,829 units exported to the U.S. in May 2008.

EXPORTS TO THE U.S., MAY 2009

50cc or under…746 units, down 260 units or 25.8 percent

51-125cc…189 units, down 1,745 units or 90.2 percent

126-250cc…608 units, down 1,031 units or 62.9 percent

Over 250cc…7,573 units, down 9,677 units or 56 percent

Yeah Jeff........evrything is down for sure. Hopefully there will be an upswing soon. I kinda doubt it though. With unemployment reaching historic levels and a suffering economy the future looks dim.

Interesting...Japan is relying on 3rd world exports (the 50cc market) to tide then over... we are returning to the 1950's :laugh:

UPS is probably a great bellwether of the economy. We had our UPS account manager at Z1 Enterprises today. According to him, they saw an increase in packages in June. They track trends by industry and are seeing some overall improvements - and surprisingly retail and some segments of manufacturing are up...

Talking with industry suppliers like K&L, Motion Pro, All-Balls and others, they are seeing decent volume - in fact, the sales person I deal with at Motion Pro has seen a very good increase in sales for his accounts.

It is very clear people are not committing large amounts of money on big cruisers or sportbikes - but the repair side of the industry is doing fairly well. Some of the independant shops we provide parts to are slammed with work.

I've heard numbers thrown around that indicate HD is off 60% so comparatively speaking it's not looking so bad for the Japanese manufacturers.