Sales of small motorcycles to rapid-delivery grocery retailers are helping drive a gradual recovery in the country’s motorcycle market.
However, with sales barely 40% of historic highs, retailers say it will be many years, if ever, before the market gets back to where it once was.
From 20,644 in Covid-19-afflicted 2020, sales grew 28.3% and 19.8% respectively in 2021 and 2022, before receding 1.7% in 2023, to 31,199.
Arnold Olivier, national director of the Association of Motorcycle Importers and Distributors (Amid), said on Wednesday he expected the 2024 market to be about 32,500. The record of 84,000 was set in 1981.
Figures include road and off-road motorcycles, scooters, quad bikes and three-wheelers.
While it is not always clear how individual buyers intend to use their motorcycles, Olivier said the industry believed most were put to commercial use.
Of the estimated 350,000 on SA roads, more than half were used for work. Agriculture accounts for some current sales but retail deliveries are increasing their share.
Where once it was primarily pharmacies and food outlets that delivered to customers, the growth of grocery services such as Checkers Sixty60, Pick n Pay ASAP, Spar2U and Woolies Dash has changed the dynamic.
The presence of thousands of motorcycles whizzing through traffic to deliver goods to customers, appears to be doing little for employment among South Africans. Olivier said it was estimated that 95% of delivery riders were from other African countries. Even with manufacturer programmes to train and help newcomers through their riding test, and even provide them with protective clothing, “we can’t get South Africans to do the job”, he said.
This mirrors the experience of a few years ago when companies predicted a huge increase in sales among township South Africans needing transport to and from work.
Motorbikes, they said, were a practical, cheap solution and SA city streets would soon buzz with thousands of small bikes — as is the case in many Asian cities. It didn’t happen.
In the opinion of many, Olivier said, the opportunity to earn money with motorcycles was outweighed by the risk of riding a small, exposed vehicle among aggressive car and truck drivers. “We have to accept many people perceive motorcycling as dangerous,” said Olivier, who is also brand manager for Triumph Motorcycles SA.
That perception was heightened by hijackings. “They don’t want a job that forces them to go into potentially risky areas after dark,” he said.
This reticence could limit growth in sales of motorcycles for commercial use. Without more people learning to ride, an existing shortage of licensed riders would get worse.
Chinese brands
The overall market is stubbornly slow despite the availability of cheap motorcycles that weren’t around a few years ago.
Olivier said Chinese brands accounted for more than 60% of total SA motorcycle sales. One, Big Boy, has 43% on its own. Japanese brands, with Honda and Suzuki at the forefront, remain popular, while Indian, Thai, German, Austrian and American brands have smaller shares. Big Boy motorcycles sell for as little as R16,500. Established brands such as Honda start at about R25,000.
Top-end brands such as BMW and Harley-Davidson have loyal followings, though, as in the new-car market, the premium and leisure sectors are taking strain.
“In scrappy economic circumstances, as we have had in SA for some years, ‘toys’ are the last thing you buy,” said Olivier.
Electric motorcycles (e-bikes) are coming on strong. Annual sales grew 475% from 2022 to 2023, from 152 to 673.
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