The sun is out, summer is here and sales are soaring, along with temperatures.
The weather has been the icing on the cake with customers returning to the showroom after lockdown, more used motorbikes in stock again and some great offers on new bikes.
Director Dave Willis said: “It’s been very busy ever since the showroom reopened on 12 April, even with the changeable weather we’ve been having.
“The workshop had not been quite as manic but that all changed in the last week of May when the sun really came out and people wanted to get their bikes back on the road.”
April sales suffered from still being closed for nearly two weeks at the start of the month but, since then, business has really picked up as riders make up for lost time.
“We achieved above our target in May for new and used bikes. We already have enough bikes on order in June to hit this month’s target.”
With the showroom shut, we were selling more used bikes than new. The downside was we were not getting many trade-ins so stock levels dropped.
“As soon as people started buying new bikes we started getting more bikes being part-exchanged. We’re still buying used bikes and now getting up to our usual stock of 50 to 70 used bikes,” he said.
Unfortunately, there are still issues getting some new motorbikes into the dealership with factories not fully up to speed again, supply chain issues and some parts shortages such as semi-conductors and resin. Brexit has not helped and nor have hold-ups resulting from the Suez Canal being blocked for six days in March.
That said, the outlook is looking favourable for as long as we can stay open and the good weather holds.
“We expect sales to be higher than normal for the remaining months of this season due to pent-up demand to buy a new bike, people undecided about what to do about a holiday, having money to spend and confidence returning.
“Our biggest problem is going to be getting hold of stock for certain models.”