Snowmobiles are recreational winter vehicles often found in areas covered with snow. Snowmobile is an open terrain vehicle and doesn’t require road and rail and can smoothly run over snow and ice.
Snowmobile is also popularly known as sled or snow machine. Snowmobile
market witnesses limited demand, being a recreational transportation
product, it is commonly sold in regions with sufficient snow.
Some of the geographies where snowmobiles are mostly marketed includes
Finland, Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Quebec, etc. Another major reason
behind snowmobile being commonly categorized under recreational category
is the relatively high cost of snowmobiles and use limited only to
winter season with sufficient snow.
Snowmobiles are generally available in single and two-seater variants, out of which
single-seater is most commonly found variant. Snowmobiles can be
powered by a two stroke or a four stroke engine, the engines are similar
to that found in personal watercraft.
Type of engine deployed in snowmobile is important as performance and power
is one of the key parameters concerned while selection of a snowmobile. A
variety of variants with different engine capacity are available in the
market, selection of which depend upon the riding requirements. The
market for snowmobile is highly consolidated with few manufacturers
holding major share of the market.
Global Snowmobile Market: Market Dynamics
Increasing inclination of young population towards recreational sports
supplemented by the increasing disposable incomes in key target markets
is a prominent factor that drives the growth of snowmobile market.
Snowmobilers in the U.S. take snowmobiling as a family activity and
large portion of families residing in the U.S. opts snowmobiling for
recreation purpose. This in turn creates demand for snowmobiles.
From a macro-economic point of view, robust growth of economy is a major
market force responsible for accelerating or decelerating market growth.
The snowmobile market was adversely hit by the global economic
recession between 2007 and 2009. A noteworthy decline in sales figures
of snowmobile was witnessed in 2009. However, the market situation
improved slightly post-recession period.
One of the major factors that is hampering the adoption of snowmobile among
various is the higher cost of the snowmobiles. Snowmobiles generally
costs between US$ 9000 to US$ 11000 – nearly the cost of a passenger car.
This limits snowmobiles customer base to people with relatively high
incomes. Furthermore, the high cost of replacement parts and their
maintenance is among other factors that restraints customers from buying
new snowmobile and rent or buy old snowmobiles.
Global Snowmobile Market: Region-wise Outlook
By region, North America accounts for a significantly large share of
demand for snowmobile, the U.S. and Canada remain as major contributors
to the growth of the market. However, the U.S. holds a relatively high
share in terms of volume sales in the region. Followed by the North
America, Europe is expected to be the next big market for snowmobiles.
Countries in the Eastern parts such as Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway are
prominent markets for snowmobile. Western European countries create
limited demand for snowmobiles primarily for recreational activities.
Asia and Oceania region generates minimal demand for recreational
vehicles and are expected to maintain a minimal share over the forecast
period.
Global Snowmobile Market: Market Participants
Examples of some of the market participants identified in the global Snowmobile market are;
- Arctic Cat Inc.
- Polaris Industries, Inc.
- Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
- Bombardier Recreational Products & Vehicles (BRP)
- Alpina Snowmobiles S.r.l.
- Crazy Mountain
- Moto MST
It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and
methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information
according to market segments such as geographies, application, and
industry.
