SLIGHTLY WARMER AUGUST FOR REGISTRATIONS

With inevitably weak showroom footfall and restricted wallet-flaunting at the holiday season’s peak, monthly registration figures for August were thin as usual but boasted a surprising number of positives. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.

MCIA data flagged up a 9.1% overall rise to 7481 units. Scooters posted the biggest improvement, 28.4% up to 1620. Motorcycles put on 7.4% to 5304. Mopeds dropped by 14.7% to 506 and tricycles were 19% down to 51.

Of course, summer silliness still reigned with anomalies all over the place. How else does one explain the sudden elevation of Royal Enfield? Its Himalayan model trounced regular rulers such as BMW’s R1200GS or the Africa Twin from Honda to seize a coveted Adventure Sport style category crown, while the Bullet Classic EFI led 126-650cc registrations on a 7.8% market share. Those of us who don’t believe in fairies might suspect significant demonstrator fleet input.

Among bigger capacity classes, growth of 9.5% for 651-1000cc machines and 4.2% in the over-1000cc sector looked impressive at first glance — until clocking the slim quantities involved. The former added just 134 extra bikes, the latter a mere 46.

Topsy-turvy contrasts between winner and loser brands definitely haven’t abated, though. Honda stayed on top of the pile but its registrations declined by 4.3%. Runner-up Yamaha was 4.6% down and Triumph in third sank by 6%. BMW Motorrad, relegated to eighth place, was the only other dunce thanks to a more minor 1.9% fall.

The rest represented an unremitting tale of good fortune. Chinese flag-carrier Lexmoto added 17.9% to take fourth spot. But completing the top five, Suzuki put it in the shade with a glittering 37.3% increase. Kawasaki in sixth managed a relatively modest 6.1% gain, followed by KTM with a 16% rise. Harley-Davidson soared by 29.1% in ninth and Piaggio recovered from its recent series of retreats to climb by 12%.

As for the last of the summer whine, let us not forget total 2018 year-to-date registrations have now risen by only 2% to 74,771 units. (12.5% lower than the comparable YTD period in 2016 and 6.8% under 2015.) And seriously cashflow-enhancing 651cc-plus products are currently 4.9% down to 34,123.