Dec. 27. 2010 – Metric bike trend in U.S. continues

For a third straight month, metric manufacturers’ new motorcycle exports to the United States have risen over a year ago.
Shipments of motorcycle units from Japan to the United States rose 44 percent in October, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA). The association includes Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki.
The sizable shipment increase — exports totaled more than 9,000 units in October — follows a more than a 65 percent hike in September. The three-month trend is quite different from the first half of the year, when exports were down significantly.
Exports from JAMA members to Canada in October also increased. Exports there totaled more than 1,300 units, a 76.5 percent increase over the year-ago month. Metric exports to Canada also increased in September.
Overall JAMA?motorcycle production in November was recorded as 58,205 units. Compared with the 51,018 units total recorded for the same month of the previous year, this is an increase of 14 percent. PSB