Montana a leader in UTV accessory sales

Northwest Territories lead Canada

Montana leads the U.S. in the percent of UTVs sold with accessories, as well as in accessory sales as a percentage of the total new unit deal.

More than three-quarters of all UTVs sold in Montana are sold with accessories during the new unit sale. And accessories account for 14.3 percent of the total new unit deal, according to data provided exclusively to Powersports Business from CDK Global Recreation. CDK studied 142,057 new unit sales ($2 billion in sales) and $117 million in accessory sales in the U.S. from September 2015 through August 2016. For Canada, the study focused on nearly 4,000 unit sales ($66.5 million) and $4.7 million in accessory sales.

Looking more closely at how many units are sold with accessories upon initial sale, Wyoming is next, with 73 percent of units sold with accessories. On average, dealers in 26 states sell accessories with 50 percent or more of their UTVs.

The Midwest and South each have eight states with 50 percent or more UTV accessory penetration, while the West has five states in the same category.

Midwest states run from 40 to 60 percent of units sold with accessories.

In the Northwest, Oregon rolls 77 percent of all UTV sales without accessories. Washington State sends half out the door without add-ons, but Alaska adds accessories to two out of three units.

Two out of three units roll out the door in Florida without add-ons. The reverse is true in Louisiana, where two out of three units delivered have accessories.

Almost all UTVs sold in Hawaii are sold without accessories (97 percent). In California, nearly three-quarters of all units do not have accessories.

Percentage of accessories sold

Montana is again at the top of UTV accessory sales as a percentage of the total deal. Just like in the other category, Wyoming follows at 10.0 percent.

Rounding out the top five are Alaska (9.9 percent), Connecticut (9.1 percent) and Louisiana (8.5 percent).

Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota all top 8 percent. The upper Midwest is the most uniformly successful region in UTV accessory sales. The cold weather, agricultural needs, recreation potential and generally good economic conditions all combine to create a conducive environment for add-on sales, CDK Global Recreation reported.

Hawaii is the state with the lowest amount of UTV accessories sold with a new unit deal at 0.7 percent. The rest of the bottom five are Arizona (2.4 percent), Oregon (2.5 percent), California (2.5 percent) and Florida (2.6 percent). Nevada, at 2.9 percent is sixth from the bottom.

Some explanation for the differences between states in accessory sales is found in the six bottom-ranked states. Each of them is a sun belt state, where cold weather equipment would not likely be needed. Neither do they have swamp conditions that might require special outfitting. Oregon is an unexplained anomaly among these low-end states, reported CDK Global Recreation.

In Canada, the Northwest Territories and Manitoba show the highest percentage of sales derived from accessories on UTV deals.

These percentages, 20 percent and 19 percent respectfully, are significantly higher than any found in the rest of Canada or in the U.S. (Information from Québec was not available for this study.)

Sales trends

Though the average accessory sales per new UTV sold is still nearly $1,100, it has dropped almost consistently since topping out at $1,667 in January.

Though slight increases were seen in May and July, UTV accessory sales dropped to $1,098 by August, the lowest they’ve been in two years.

In September 2014, UTV accessory sales averaged $1,553 per unit, dropping to $1,350 in July 2015, before increasing to $1,667 this past January. Add-ons have declined 34 percent since February.

The California region has had the most significant decline in the last two years. California’s average UTV accessory dollars dropped from $1,800 per new unit in September 2014 to $770 in August 2016. The reason for low accessory sales in California is as yet unknown, reported CDK Global Recreation.

Top parts

For the past 12 months, the 72-inch County Blade plow from Polaris has been the top-selling part, according to CDK Global Recreation. Accounting for 2.5 percent of total UTV accessory sales, the plow has brought in nearly $2.9 million in retail sales.

Polaris accessories account for nine of the top 10 UTV accessory part numbers. Honda is the only other brand on the list, coming in third with a hard roof.

Four products on the list are windshields, and four are classified as body parts. The other two are the plow at No. 1 and a Polaris Ranger XP 900 Heater Kit at No. 5.