For those among our throng who relaxed when the MCIA revealed July’s registration data — mercifully pleased that aberrant motorcycling consumer behaviour during 2025 had finally returned to some recognisably comprehensible pattern with a trivial monthly decline of only 2.4% — August headcount must have been a bitter disappointment.
There were no redeeming excuses for an abrupt drop of 11.5%, to a total of 6846 units registered. It was a reflection of inherent market weakness without any meaningful recovery in view. Sure, August is generally thin, a time when our customer base tends to be riding pre-acquired products rather than heavy on fresh purchases. But not like this.
Motorcycles and scooters fell by 10.2% to 6439; mopeds were 27.7% in arrears at just 373; and trikes slumped by 26.1% to a mere 34. Dominant petrolhead products copped a 10.7% retreat to 6593. And for what it’s worth, battery-electric performance deteriorated by 28.3% to 253 sparky registrations.
Sticking with ICE meat and two veg for hard-pressed dealers, almost every capacity class racked up losses. Really basic mobility and delivery kit in the 0-50cc bracket sank by 18.3% to 308. The broader 51-125cc firmament was 4.9% down to 2734, a 260-strong phalanx of Honda PCX 125 scooters snatching best-seller status.
Considerably more disturbing was a 26.8% decline for the 126-500cc entry-level bargain basement to 961 units, followed by 13.6% and then 10.5% respective reductions to 758 units and 1002 units for the 501-750cc and 751-1000cc slots. Finally, somewhat cheeky 1.1% growth to 830 units for the 1000cc-plus premium range seemed almost abusive, capped as it was by yet another wedge of 89 best-selling BMW R1300GS Adventure models.
As for August 2025 best-selling brands, there was a distinct smell of absent stock availability. This didn’t apply evenly, though, in the year-on-year growth stakes. Honda, BMW and Suzuki had gained sales. Yamaha, Triumph, Lexmoto, KTM and Royal Enfield were losers. Kawasaki flatlined. Tacked on the end were a couple of hundred representatives of the latest serious Chinese interloper — Voge — a brand with which the trade will soon become accustomed.
We now have only one proper suck of the registrations sauce bottle left, as September’s forthcoming new-plate month flags up the season’s effective end. And there’s little prospect of any subsequent surprise sales surge in the offing.
For the almost consistently blighted eight months of 2025 to date, overall registrations have fallen by 17.2% to 65,314 units. That’s a YTD decline of 13,522 machines dealers haven’t sold, leaving aside the squalid mess of preregistration disposals through much of this year’s first half.