LOS ANGELES — Sales of motorcycles and scooters shifted into high gear last year when gas prices soared. Then recession-wary consumers hit the brakes.
Now, like so many other industries, the makers of two-wheeled, fuel-efficient bikes are relying on tax breaks offered in the federal stimulus package and other incentives to get sales moving again.
“Even before we quote the price, we tell people how much they can get off the bike,” said Jeff Bosco Biafore, a salesman at the San Jose Motorsport Scooter Center in Northern California.
Under the stimulus plan, the same provision that lets taxpayers deduct sales and excise taxes on the purchase of a new car or truck also applies to a motorcycle or scooter. They also can get a 10 percent federal tax credit if they buy plug-in bikes.
With a new job that stretched her commute from 10 to 40 miles a day, freelance film and television editor Cindy Parisotto says she is considering an electric scooter to reduce her commuting costs and carbon footprint.
She’s interested in an electric scooter from Vectrix Corp. that has a top speed of 62 mph and a range of at least 35 miles per charge. She would need to charge the bike every day, but Parisotto says she figures her electricity bill will be lower than what she spends on gas.
The $10,000 bike also comes with a $450 rebate from the company, meaning she could save about $2,000.
Manufacturers and dealers say it’s too early to tell whether the incentives are making a difference in sales.
One analyst says the tax breaks, especially for nonelectric models, aren’t enough to make a difference.
“It’s a bit of a break, but it may not be enough if you lost your job or if there’s a lot of pressure on your paycheck,” says Robin Diedrich, senior consumer analyst for Edward Jones. “You don’t buy a motorcycle because of $300 in tax savings.”
The cost of a new scooter ranges from $1,000 to $10,000, while motorcycles can cost anywhere from $3,000 to more than $10,000, depending on the model.
Scooter sales reached their highest annual level ever last year at roughly 222,000, largely due to soaring gas prices, said Ty van Hooydonk, spokesman for the Motorcycle Industry Council.
Dealers say sales might have gone even higher if manufacturers could have made more to keep up with demand.
“Business was insane, we couldn’t get bikes in the shop fast enough, and in the summer we had 30 to 40 people on the waiting list,” said Mike Frankovich, owner of NoHo Scooters in North Hollywood.
Since then, gas prices have dropped to about half of the peak national average of $4 a gallon.
In the first quarter of this year, motorcycle sales fell 30.5 percent while scooter sales plunged 36.7 percent, compared to the same period last year, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.
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