UsedCarNews.com
May 20, 2019
Powersports, Heavy-Duty Items Rev Up Sales
Photo by Jeffrey Bellant HOG WILD: Spring means hot sales for Harley-Davidson motorcycles at DAA Northwest in Spokane, Wash. (above). Powersports and heavy-duty equipment units hit their stride as a strong economy boosts the specialty market. By Jeffrey Bellant
Rush - Dated Material
Springtime and a booming economy mean big activity in the powersports and heavy-duty equipment markets. This year is right on course as auction leaders look to meet the big demand in the lanes. DAA Northwest hosts a monthly motorsports sale, said Bob McConkey, president, McConkey Auction Group. That sale features mostly motorcycles, averaging 100 to 125 units. “The anchor account for that sale is Harley-Davidson Financial,” he said.
“We’ve developed relationships with Harley-Davidson dealers so we work on their trades and their aged units.” McConkey said about 50 percent of that volume is Harley-Davidson, with the rest being a mix of banks, credit unions and dealers. Jim Woodrif is chief operating oficer of National Powersports Auctions (NPA) based in Poway, Calif. NPA has six dealer-only physical auctions across the country and a couple of satellite processing centers. NPA is known for its NPA Value Guide, which Woodrif compared to Manheim’s MMR.
“It allows a registered dealer to look up any year-make-model powersports vehicle and get real-time auction values,” Woodrif said. Data for nationwide volumes are hard to come by, but NPA’s estimates show there are 2 million powersports vehicles sold in the U.S. every year, including both dealer and private sales. NPA’s volumes typically mirror the overall resale market, Woodrif said. About 60 percent are motorcycles and the rest are of-road units, ATVs, side-by-sides, dirt bikes, things like that. “We’re in growth mode right now,” Woodrif said. “We run 5,000
to 7,000 powersports vehicles a month. “A typical sale may be 1,000 units and of everything ofered, we’ll sell 95 percent.” Mike Bradley, general manager at 166 Auto Auction in Springield, Mo., holds a specialty sale on the third Thursday of the month. It boosts the regular sale volume by an extra 100 to 150 units. Powersports/specialty sales also give auto dealers the opportunity to take the odd trade as a down payment because they know they have a place to liquidate that item, Bradley said. Continued on page 3
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