Fall Seasonality Is Here
With the riding season nearing an end in most parts of the country, the powersports industry looks forward to next year’s incoming new product release. This also signals dealers to clear out inventory that they do not need for the winter months. Typically, margins tighten, and dealers look for ways to save money during the year’s slowest retail and wholesale season. The good news is that while average wholesale pricing (AWP) continued to tick downward in most segments, it feels like we may have finally reached the bottom.
September Wrap-up
As we stated last month, the stretch from August through October is the softest period for retail and wholesale pricing. For September, short-term AWP performance was very similar to long-term performance across most product segments. On-road motorcycle AWPs exhibited seasonal declines in wholesale price, while dual-sport declined more than the seasonal norm. Year-over-year performance in the off-road segments fell across the board with continued softening in side-by-side, ATV and personal watercraft (PWC). While AWP continues to follow normal seasonal trends, we expect price softening to be more muted in October as the prior three-month comparable weakens with the inclusion of August and September numbers.
Winter Is Coming
While our kids gear up for Halloween and our customers look for reduced interest rates, November and December typically see prices stabilize before turning upward again in spring. Prudent dealers, with the capital to acquire inventory, usually begin to jump back into the market in Q4, focused on buying for the spring market when prices bottom out. While this should support pricing, expect AWPs to remain soft into October. With the holidays quickly approaching, it is a great time to take advantage of OEM promotions and slightly softer pricing in the lanes. Buying season is around the corner, and you don’t want to find yourself on the sidelines searching for inventory come spring. Strike while the iron is hot and the pricing is soft.
