Following the 1.16 percent growth seen in UK motorcycle registrations in 2013, and the accelerating growth recorded at the end of the year, motorcycle sales were up by 13.3 percent (3,893 units) in January 2014 (from 3,437 in January 2013).
Total PTW sales were down by 1.88 percent in the UK in 2013, but the upward trend seen towards the end of the year has continued in January, with 10.4 percent growth (4,517 units from 4,092 in January 2013).
Sports/Tourers and Supersport models have returned to growth, meaning that all significant sectors of the UK market are now on an upward trend.
Honda remains market leader, followed by Yamaha, Triumph, Piaggio and KTM; the largest single-selling model in the UK in January was Honda’s PCX 125 scooter followed by their naked-style CBF 125 M.
According to the UK Motorcycle Industry Association the number of motorcycles in use in the UK in 2012 (the year for which most recent data is available) was 1.2 million PTWs, with 4.7 billion km (2.9 billion miles) being ridden (2011).
The industry concerns surrounding the impacts of motorcycle licensing and test changes that saw the number of rider test passes drop to 32,000 in 2009/10 from 70,000 in 2008/09 are now being somewhat alleviated by growth to 40,000 seen by 2011/12.
