Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/536070
SNOWMOBILE 'Monstrous decline' in Russia drops worldwide sales total BY JOHN PRUSAK EDITOR, SNOW GOER Editor's note: John Prusak, editor of Snow Goer, a sister publication to Powersports Business, recently attended the International Snowmobile Congress in Niagara Falls, New York, and returned with the following report. Buoyed by a strong winter season in 2013-14 that drove snowmobile sales last fall, pur- chases of new snowmobiles grew by 8 percent in the United States and 4 percent in Canada in the 2015 selling season, according to the Inter- national Snowmobile Manufacturers Associa- tion (ISMA). The figures, announced June 12 at the Inter- national Snowmobile Congress in Niagara Falls, New York, show a positive uptick in a market that suffered from snowless winter conditions in many areas of the Upper Midwest and North- west last winter. But so many new sleds were sold before December 2014 that the limited rid- ing opportunities last winter didn't hurt sales as much as some people may have expected. "We were up 20 to 30 percent at one point" in the fall, Ed Klim, the executive director of ISMA, said when announcing the figures. "Then sales slowed down quite a bit" when snow didn't fall in many states through last winter, he said. Sales of new snowmobiles in the 2015 selling season (considered from May 1, 2014 through April 30, 2015) in the U.S. reached 58,299, Klim said, compared to 54,028 in the 2014 selling season and 48,536 in the 2013 sea- son. That's an increase of more than 20 percent over a two-year period. Meanwhile, in Canada, sales in the 2015 season were 50,752, up from 48,758 in 2014 and 44,022 in 2013. This was all despite a snowless or low- snow winter in many areas west of the Great Lakes, including popular snowmobiling states like Minnesota and much of Wisconsin, plus many mountain states. West of the Mississippi, Colorado was one of the few states that had a better-than-normal winter. That said, snowfall in the Northeast was fabulous in many areas, giving riders in hot riding states like New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine seemingly endless riding opportunities. Those aforementioned strong pre-season sales also resulted in very low inventories at dealerships, Klim said, calling them the "lowest inventory levels since I've been here," and Klim has been at the helm of ISMA since 1995. INTERNATIONAL SALES FALL It wasn't all good news from Klim, however. The strong sales in North America were not able to overcome a monstrous decline in snowmobile sales in Russia, so worldwide sales of new snowmobiles declined in the 2015 season to 150,713, from 157,106 in the 2014 selling season. Looking a little bit further out, though, the numbers look com- paratively better: In 2013, new snowmobile sales worldwide were 144,601 and 129,087 in 2012. Klim said sales in Northern European coun- ties like Sweden and Finland were flat year- over-year, but Russian sales dropped by "close to 30 percent." The collapse of the value of Russian cur- rency, political instability and decline in oil prices have all had a major impact on the Rus- sian economy, Klim said. That explosion of worldwide sales between 2012 and 2014 was largely driven by a burst in Russian sales. PSB Snowmobile sales on the rise in U.S., Canada 48 • July 13, 2015 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com New snowmobile unit sales grew by 8 percent in the U.S. and 4 percent in Canada during the 2015 selling season, reported the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association.