The official count is in, and despite supply issues industry-wide, 2021 broke records all over again with over 10,000 new motorcycles added to the national fleet.
This month the Motor Industry Association released its final sales figures based on registrations from 2021, with a total of 10,646 bikes (including mopeds) added to New Zealand roads.
Sales were up across the board in 2021 with moped sales were up 154 units with a total of 1996 registered, while full-size bikes requiring a Class 6 licence (bikes over 50cc) were up a whopping 1542 units with 8650 new registrations.
On the face of it, Kiwis were snapping up affordable non-ABS models before they were gone with the introduction of mandatory ABS in November, with Suzuki’s ever-popular DR650SE going out with a bang as the top-selling model for 2021.
As always it was LAMS models dominating sales with the DR650 followed by Suzuki’s GSX250, Kawasaki’s Ninja 400, Suzuki GN125H and Honda Rebel 500 in the Top 5 of the sales charts.
Suzuki remains the country’s favourite brand with a dominant 17.6% share of total sales. This is followed by Honda (9.6%), Yamaha (9%), KTM (7.8%) and Harley-Davidson (6.6%) in the Top 5 brands in NZ.
Top 5 Best Selling Motorcycles NZ 2021
1. Suzuki DR650SE - 358
2. Suzuki GSX250 - 300
3. Kawasaki Ninja 400 - 204
4. Suzuki GN125H - 179
5. Honda Rebel 500 - 159