Indian Motorcycle Ranked Highest in 2026 Web Lead Response Study; Industry Enters 5th Year of Stagnant Performance

• Dissatisfaction remains common: More than half of customer inquiries remain unanswered after 24 hours industry-wide
• Missed Opportunities: Only one in three customers received a response that included next steps of any kind, and only one in ten dealerships industry-wide offered an appointment
• Leaders in the 2026 study: Indian dealerships had the highest average Internet Lead Effectiveness^® (ILE^®) score followed by Harley Davidson, Can-Am, Triumph, and BMW

AUSTIN, TX – March 23, 2026 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Indian Motorcycle dealerships were ranked highest in the 2026 Pied Piper PSI^® Internet Lead Effectiveness^® (ILE^®) Powersports Industry Study, which measured dealership responses to internet sales leads. Pied Piper submitted customer inquiries through 2,133 powersports dealership websites representing all major brands. Indian dealerships maintained their top rank among powersports brands for the fourth year in a row and achieved an average ILE score of 55 out of 100. The total powersports industry, meanwhile, remains stagnant, with the average dealership ILE score stalled in the mid-40s for the fifth year in a row, with many chronic fixable web response issues remaining.

“More than half of powersports customers still receive no personal response to their web inquiry,” said Cameron O’Hagan, Vice President of Metrics and Analytics at Pied Piper. “The solution is simple. Dealers are twice as likely to be top performers if they commit to responding to web customers at least once each day and receive monthly web-response measurement as a reminder of what’s really happening.”

Large Opportunities for Improvement Remain Evident Throughout Powersports Industry

The 2026 Powersports industry’s average ILE score remained at 44 for the third straight year, a relatively low ILE score indicating systemic improvement needed. The following are key challenges identified in the 2026 study that remain prominent throughout the powersports industry:

• Low and Worsening Rate of Answering Questions – Only 47% of dealers industry-wide answered a website customer’s question by email/text in this year’s study, a trend that has worsened by 1% since 2022. In effect, the average dealer industry-wide has continued to miss out on approximately half of their web leads from 2022 to present.
• Continued Low Rates of Offering Appointments – Compared to last year, an additional 3% of powersports dealers suggested to website sales customers an appointment for a specific date and time. However, the overall rate for offering appointments remains at only 13% of the time on average, leaving more than 8 out of ten customers without an offer of an appointment.
• Only Half of Powersports Dealers Phone Their Web Customers – Despite being arguably the most critical follow-up path for conversion, the rate of contacting website sales customers by phone remained unchanged, averaging 50% of the time industry-wide in the 2026 study. By not picking up the phone, dealers forfeit roughly half of their website sales opportunities.

What Behaviors Have Kept Indian on Top for their Fourth Year Straight?

Indian Motorcycle dealers continued to be the top performing dealerships in website sales lead response behaviors for the fourth year in a row. Indian dealers were more likely to use a combination of calls, texts, and emails when responding to customers, and had the lowest rate of failing to respond out of the brands measured.

• Highest Rate of “Doing Both” – Indian dealers were most likely to utilize multi-channel responses (answering the customer’s question by email/text while also calling) compared to other powersports brands, occurring 39% of the time on average in this year’s study, while only occurring only 24% of the time throughout the overall industry. Without this commitment it is too easy to miss a customer who ignores a phone call or text or fails to check their email.
• Least Number of “Crickets” – Based on the 2026 study findings, only one in twenty-five Indian website customers received no response, while customers industry-wide were more than twice as likely on average to be left without a response of any kind.
• Monthly ILE Reporting – Indian Motorcycle dealerships receive a regular “tap on the shoulder” via monthly ILE reports that “shine a light” on behaviors that are otherwise often invisible and too easy for busy employees to neglect. This increased awareness has consistently driven and sustained stronger performance.

2026 Brand Performance Compared:

• “Answered Question” – How often did the brand’s dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer’s question?
  • More than 65% of the time on average: BMW, Ducati, Indian, Triumph
  • Less than 35% of the time on average: Kawasaki, Kymco, Arctic Cat, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops)
  • Industry average: 47% Powersports; Memo – Automotive 78%
• “Phoned Customer” – How often did the brand’s dealerships respond by phone to a website customer’s inquiry?
  • More than 50% of the time on average: Can-Am, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Indian, CFMoto
  • Less than 20% of the time on average: Roxor, John Deere, Kymco, Cub Cadet
  • Industry average: 50% Powersports; Memo – Automotive 74%
• “Did at least one” – How often did the brand’s dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer’s question and/or respond by phone?
  • More than 80% of the time on average: Can-Am, Indian, CFMoto, Harley-Davidson
  • Less than 50% of the time on average: Roxor, Cub Cadet, Kymco
  • Industry average: 72% Powersports; Memo – Automotive 90%
• “Did both” – How often did the brand’s dealerships email or text an answer to a website customer’s question and also phone the customer?
  • More than 30% of the time on average: Indian, Harley-Davidson, Triumph, BMW
  • Less than 10% of the time on average: John Deere, Roxor, Kymco, Tracker (Bass Pro Shops), Arctic Cat, Cub Cadet
  • Industry average: 24% Powersports; Memo – Automotive 62%
• “Failed to Respond” – How often did the website customer fail to receive a response of any type (email, text, or phone call)?
  • Less than 5% of the time on average: Indian, Suzuki, Honda, Can-Am, Segway, Yamaha, CFMoto
  • More than 15% of the time on average: John Deere, Cub Cadet, Roxor
  • Industry average: 9% Powersports; Memo – Automotive 5%

Why Are ILE Scores Valuable to Measure?

Each brand’s ILE score represents an average of web inquiry response behaviors of their individual dealers, including top-performers and poor performers, each with a score ranging from 0-100.

In this year’s study, only 11% of all dealerships measured scored above 80 (providing a quick and thorough personal response), while 45% of dealerships scored below 40 (slow and/or unhelpful responses).

“With nearly half of powersports dealers in this year’s study scoring under 40, many brands and dealers are leaving significant opportunity on the table,” said O’Hagan. “The effort to improve is worth it. Historically, dealers who improve their ILE performance from scoring under 40 to scoring over 80 on average sell 50% more units from the same quantity of internet leads.”

There was a slight negative migration trend for the “over 80” and “under 40” categories observed in the 2026 study, with 2% fewer dealers scoring over 80 and 3% more dealers scoring under 40 compared to last year. Many dealers underperform, but the success of others shows that improvement is achievable, and clearly worth the effort.

How Was This Study Conducted?

Each of the 2,133 ILE study evaluations asked a specific question about a motorcycle or side-by-side in inventory, during normal business hours. Each location interacted with a customer new and unique to their website and dealership, with a new customer name, email address, and local telephone number used for each evaluation.

Pied Piper then evaluated the speed and quality of responses sent by email, telephone, chat, and text message within the next 24 hours following each inquiry. ILE evaluations consist of over 20 different weighted measurements, linked to best practices mathematically likely to generate sales. These measurements combine to create an overall ILE score ranging between zero and 100 for each dealership, which are then consolidated into ranked brand and industry averages.

About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC

Austin, Texas-based Pied Piper combines artificial intelligence and trained human evaluators to measure the proprietary Prospect Satisfaction Index^® (PSI^®). PSI^® measures how effectively each retail location follows proven sales and service best practices throughout a new customer’s journey, from initial website inquiry or phone call, through follow-up and appointment setting.

Manufacturers, franchisors, dealer groups, and other organizations use PSI^® reporting to drive measurable improvement across their retail networks. The most common reaction: “We just didn’t know.” As AI and human processes increasingly overlap, only independent measurement exposes hidden failures and drives real improvement.

For more than 15 years, Pied Piper has independently published annual industry studies that rank the omnichannel performance of brands and dealer groups. These studies track how industry performance changes over time and give current and prospective PSI^® clients a benchmark to understand how their own performance compares.

Other recent Pied Piper PSI^® industry studies include:

• 2026 Internet Lead Effectiveness^® (ILE^®) Auto Industry Study (Nissan’s Infiniti brand ranked first)
• 2026 Internet Lead Effectiveness^® (ILE^®) Compact Tractor Industry Study (Kubota ranked first)
• 2025 Service Telephone Effectiveness^® (STE^®) Powersports Industry Study (BMW Motorrad ranked first)
• 2025 Telephone Lead Effectiveness^® (TLE^®) Pontoon Boat Industry Study (Bass Pro Shops’ Sun Tracker brand ranked first)

Learn more, request a presentation of industry study results, or request ongoing PSI^® measurement and reporting at www.piedpiperpsi.com.

Source: Pied Piper Management Company, LLC

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