sled sales slip again
Amsnow
Both total sled unit sales and dollar sales decreased for 2005-2006 after a less than stellar winter brought little in the way of snow to much of the Midwest and East last season.
Ed Klim, president of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, released official numbers at the recent International Snowmobile Congress in Burlington, Vt. While the results were expected due to the poor snowfalls, it marks the ninth straight decrease in unit sales.
Following a 4% decline in the prior year, ISMA reported worldwide unit sales of snowmobiles dropped 5% again this past year. Sales dropped from 173,733 units in the 2004-2005 season to 164,860 for 2005-2006.
The U.S. market led the decline, falling 9% from 100,899 to 91,670. Unlike last year when we saw an ironic increase in dollar figures in the U.S. even with fewer sleds sold, dollar sales also fell 10% this year from $825 million to slightly more than $740 million.
Canada's decrease was smaller. Only 42,953 sleds left showroom floors in 2005-2006, a 7% decline from last year's 46,304 total. However, there was less than a 1% dip in dollar sales in the Canadian market. Last season sales were $364 million (adjusted to U.S. dollars), down from $367 million the year before.
Consumers though appeared to come out ahead. The average sled price in the U.S. slipped from $8,183 to $8,064 last season. Large dealer inventories, aggressive rebate programs and the end of several product life cycles probably influenced this drop in the U.S.
While the U.S. market saw a 1% decrease in the average sled cost, the story was much different in Canada where prices increased 6%. The average price hit $8,474, up from $7,942 the season before. This increase may have kept the Canadian total dollar sales figure from falling proportionate to the drop in unit sales.
In addition to the U.S. and Canada, snowmobile sales abroad accounted for 30,255 units last season or 18% of the total snowmobile units sold. U.S. consumers bought nearly 56% of all the snowmobiles sold during the 2005-2006 season and Canadians took home 26%.
"The parts and garments industry for snowmobiles also remained flat this last year at about $340 million," said ISMA's Klim.