Continuing the trend seen throughout the year, the motorcycle market experienced another decline in October, with total registrations dropping by 2.5%. The market has faced persistent challenges in 2024, and this marks the fifth consecutive month of contraction,” says Symon Cook, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), commenting on the latest MCIA figures.
There was a 2.5% decrease in total registrations in October, from 8066 to 7861 units. Total motorcycle sales grew slightly by 0.7% from 7373 to 7424 units, while moped registrations declined by 38.2% to 395 units. Year-to-date figures show a decrease of 3.7% for total registrations.
The various categories of motorcycles exhibited a wide range of performances; modern classic surged by 112.7% for the month to 1142 units. Adventure also rose by 16.6% to 1431 units. Scooters saw a decrease of 19.5% from 2295 to 1847 units.
Electric motorcycles dropped 43.5% from 508 to 287 units. Year-to-date electric figures remain below last year’s corresponding period, down 8.5% from 3566 to 3264 units.
Of the different ICE capacities, the 126-500cc category witnessed growth (17.4%), whereas bigger capacity bikes decreased, with 751-1000cc contracting by 7.3% and over-1000cc contracting by 13.1%.
Honda was again the best-selling brand of the month, with 1188 units sold, followed by Yamaha (1011) and Royal Enfield (874), whilst SYM rounded out the top ten with 203 models sold.
Cook concluded: “Electric models appear to be struggling, and have been consistently trailing behind last year’s figures for most of this year.
“Aside from briefly mentioning vehicle excise duty rates, motorcycles were largely overlooked in last month’s Autumn Budget. The NMDA will continue collaborating with the government, urging it to address these concerning trends.”