According to the latest registration figures released by ACEM, the Brussels based motorcycle industry trade association, a total of 121,478 powered two wheelers (PTWs) were sold in Europe in January and February 2014 - an increase of 8.6 percent compared with the 111,879 units sold in January and February of 2013.
ACEM is reporting that “most of the largest European markets performed well on a year-to-year basis. Sales increased in key markets, including Germany (+24.1%), Spain (+8.7%), UK (+4.2%) and France (+1.8%). The Italian market for PTWs, however, contracted by 3%” – though by the recent standards of the Italian market this actually represents a better start to the year than has been seen there for a long time.
When analysed without sales of small cc models, the motorcycle segment did even better – it grew by 14.8 percent during the first two months of the year, representing good news for dealerships as it would appear that the selection of more expensive machines available to consumers are the primary drivers of growth at this stage.
85,742 motorcycles were sold in January and February 2014 in the EU, whilst 74,673 were sold during the same period of the previous year.
Key European markets for motorcycles have performed well during the first two months of the year. Year-on-year sales have increased in Germany (+47.8%), Spain (+14.8%), France (+10%), UK (6.6%) and Italy (0.5%), with other European markets also experiencing growth – the only two exceptions being Ireland and Romania.
The small cc sectors continue to be under pressure - during the first two months of 2014 registrations fell by 4.3 percent compared to the same period in 2013. This figure, however, represents a substantial improvement compared to the January results on a year-on-year basis (-15.2%).
ACEM says that “it is clear that the small cc sectors continue to be the most affected by the economic downturn. All key markets for small cc models contracted during the first two months of the year”. Registrations in Germany decreased by 28.5%, in Italy by 18.9%, in Spain by 16.1%, in France by 12% and in the UK by 4.6%.
