Rising Thai market share of
automatic transmission (AT) motorcycles
By Jon Fernquest |
The frontpage of today's Bangkok Post business section covers the growing popularity and market share of automatic transmission (AT) motorcycles.
If you haven't been shopping for a motorcycle recently, motorcycle showrooms across Thailand nowadays are full of fast selling new AT models.
(In photo to the right Thai Yamaha Motor CEO Takahiko Goan and model holding gigantic credit card ride one of Yamaha's newer AT models)
Motorcycle sales plunged last year in Thailand with the sluggish economy and a drop in consumer spending:
"Motorcycle sales, based on registrations with the Land Transport Department, fell by 17% from 1.93 million units in 2006 to 1.59 million last year...Honda had a 70% market share last year but its total registrations were down 14% to 1.12 million units. Trailing Honda were Yamaha at 370,143 units, down 15%, Suzuki (80,720 units, down 47%), Kawasaki (7,571 units, down 40%) and the Malaysian brand JRD with 6,064 units, up 15%."
Honda has been the market leader in motorcycle sales for nineteen years!
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"Despite the sluggish market, sales of AT motorcycles grew 12% from 2006 to 727,869 units, while those of family, family sport and sport models dropped 31%, 47% and 9%, respectively."
Most of these new models are too small to carry a whole family though (see photo to the right).
(Source: Bangkok Post, Business, 21-01-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
market share - the percentage of the sales that a product or company has of the whole market
automatic transmission (AT) - instead of manually shifting gears with your foot, as you do in most Thai motorcycles, gears shift automatically as you accelerate (See Wikipedia)
AT motorcycles - one of the many modern and increasingly popular small motorcycles with automatic transmission, usually a "scooter," a style of two wheeled motor vehicle with a step-through frame, small wheels, automatic transmission, and small engine (See Wikipedia on scooters)
sluggish - moving slowly
registrations - making an official record of motorcycle ownership with the government, paying taxes, and passing an inspection
bucked the trend - went against a trend, did not follow a trend like others did
aggressive - acting forcefully with determination and eagerness to succeed (often used negatively with meanings of anger and violence)
