When the Q3 registrations figures for the major European motorcycle and moped markets arrived, we knew it wasn’t going to be good news.
The five biggest motorcycle markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) saw total sales fall by 7.2%, the biggest fall for more than a decade. One brighter note is that the decline comes after a record-breaking 2023 and 2024, so actual unit sales are still well ahead of older Q3 totals. Electric bike registrations fell by a more modest 3.7%, although that will be of little solace to dealers.
No such silver linings were to be seen in the moped sector across the six biggest markets (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain). Overall sales plunged by more than 16%, and that comes on the back of the two previous years also seeing hefty declines. Electric moped sales fell by 13.9% to the lowest total since 2018. The result is that total moped sales are now the lowest for more than a decade, at just over half of what they were in the early 2020s.
