A lacklustre economy and lousy snow season cut into North American snowmobile sales, but worldwide sled sales still grew 5 per cent to 129,087 units.
That’s the word today from ISMA, (the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association). Ed Klim, the group’s president, revealed the numbers in a speech at the International Snowmobile Congress in Sturbridge, Mass.
Low snow in the U.S. and Canada hurt sales in the traditionally strong months of January through March. Klim said U.S. sales for the season dipped 6 per cent to 48,689, down from 51,796 the previous year. However, the 2012 sales figures were almost identical to U.S. sales two years ago. The story in Canada was slightly better. Unit sales slipped 1.8 per cent to 40,165 in the 2012 season, down from 40,878. The good news was that sales last season remained higher than the 37,670 units sold in Canada in the 2009 season.
Snowmobile sales though continue strong growth in Europe and Russia, in spite of weak economies. Sled sales grew 30 per cent overseas, from 30,389 a year ago to 40,223 in the 2012 season.
The result is higher sales worldwide for the second straight year. Sales had fallen to 111,492 units in the 2010 season.
Snowmobile registrations were a mixed bag, although still strong. In the U.S., registrations fell from 1,550,158 in 2011 to 1,401.376 sleds this past season, about a 9.6 per cent decrease. However, in Canada registrations inched up, gaining 898 sleds to 603,800. That’s less than a 1 per cent increase.
Including an estimated 700,000 sleds registered in Europe and Russia, the worldwide number of registered sleds is now more than 2.7 million. ISMA also reported a few other numbers from its latest survey of snowmobilers.
- The average age of a snowmobiler is 41, down from 43 last year, reflecting an influx of Gen Y buyers. Median age of sled buyers is even lower.
- The average snowmobiler rode 900 miles this past season, reflecting the poor snow conditions. The average generally is about 1,000 miles and for 2011 it had jumped to 1,141 miles. We know our hardcore AmSnow readers usually put on closer to 2,000 miles a season.
Source: AmSnow/ISC/ISMC
