Motorcycle Dealers NAICS 441227

Jun 27, 2025 - Motorcycle Sales Dip in Q1

• The Q1 2025 report from the Motorcycle Industry Council revealed a sales decrease of 7.8% of new motorcycles and scooters among leading brands year over year, despite strong sales in certain other segments, according to Dealernews. Industry officials said some unusual weather, such as snow in Florida, may have also had an impact on sales. According to Anthony J. Kestler, VP, Sales and Marketing at Kawasaki Motors Corp., "There continues to be uncertainty in the market regarding forthcoming tariffs and their impact on powersports OEMs and customers. The US motorcycle market is down in the first four months of 2025, but Kawasaki has realized strong retail results in overall motorcycle sales." Another top motorcycle manufacturer, Yamaha, reported its motorcycle sales were on pace with the company’s forecast in the first quarter of 2025 while sales of competition and off-road bike sales remain higher than pre-COVID.
• The Retail Trade Industry is one of eight industries reporting contraction in May’s Services ISM Report on Business. Executives in the Retail Trade industry reported an increase in inventories and prices, faster supplier deliveries, along with a decrease in new orders, order backlogs, and employment in May. Services industries reporting growth during the period were Accommodation & Food Services; Art, Entertainment, and Recreation Services; Public Administration; Mining; Utilities; Educational Services; Real Estate, Rental & Leasing; Information; Health Care & Social Assistance; and Professional, Scientific & Technical Services. Additional industries reporting contraction during the period were Other Services; Wholesale Trade; Management of Companies & Support Services; Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting; Finance & Insurance; Construction; and Transportation & Warehousing. Overall, economic activity in the services sector contracted in May, with the Services PMI registering 49.9%.

• The US motorcycle dealers industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 2.49% between 2025 and 2029, slower than the overall economy’s projected growth, according to a forecast from Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. The retail and wholesale sectors are driven by consumer spending, along with expenditure by businesses and government. A significant portion of household consumption spending on durable goods is devoted to purchases of motor vehicles. A factor that may limit consumer spending is higher tariffs on consumer goods. Lower inflation supports a moderate increase of real disposable income by about 2% in 2025 and 1.9% in 2026. Real income could suffer if prices rise due to tariff implementation. The forecast said retail spending could soften with the growth of spending on consumer services, but noted that consumers so far have maintained spending on goods even as travel and live entertainment spending has risen.
• According to a report in Web Bike World, motorcycle dealers are preparing for the effects of a turbulent trade environment. The Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on auto imports in April, in addition to reciprocal tariffs on many countries’ imports, although certain reciprocal tariffs have been paused for 90 days. Tariffs on imports from China, the world’s largest manufacturer of goods, have risen under the new administration. The report noted that the motorcycle industry is highly globalized, with many components sourced from multiple countries and manufacturers with plants in different locations worldwide. For example, electronic control units are most often designed in Japan and Germany and usually assembled in Mexico, aluminum parts come from China and Mexico, and brake pads come from China and Asia, per a motorcycle component sourcing list in Web Bike World. According to the report, “Overall, we are expecting that higher tariffs on the world’s leading manufacturing power will spike and/or delay production costs, relocate specific production processes, raise bike prices, reduce the amount of bikes available, and potentially harm contribute to wage and/or job losses.” In addition, the tariffs on Chinese goods may kill certain bike brands struggling before the tariff implementation.