New motorcycle registrations in Spain continue to grow - up by an impressive 24.03 percent in July at 13,735 units, from 11,074 units in July 2013.
For the year-to-date new motorcycle registrations are now running at 19.26 percent up - at 52,681 units from 44,205 units in the first seven months of 2013.
This means that after a well recorded collapse in the market there, Spain has now seen 11 straight months of motorcycle sales growth, and while there is a long way to go to reach pre-recession levels (the Spanish market was worth nearly 74,000 new motorcycles for the first seven months of the year as recently as 2009), the market is now up on 2012 as well 2013.
Secretary General of ANESDOR (the Motorcycle Industry Trade Association Spain), Jose Maria Riano, says that "the growth is running ahead of forecast and the number of people using scooters and motorcycles for daily mobility is increasing.
"It is logical because the benefits [reduced expense, travel time and emissions] and time of year make two wheels an attractive option. With the market growing again ANESDOR is now pointing to the importance of proper vehicle maintenance, the wearing of appropriate protective equipment and a zero tolerance for riding under the influence of alcohol and drugs".
However, ANESDOR say that the small cc/moped market in Spain continues to suffer from the effects of licensing, taxation and other regulatory changes, with an 80 percent drop in sales in the past five years.
Moped/small cc machine sales were down by -6.5 percent in July, but the rate of decline appears to be following the same pattern that has seen a return to growth in the larger displacement sectors in Spain and elsewhere - down by just -3.80 percent over 2013 for the year-to-date at 8,374 units; the first seven months saw some 26,000 new small displacement machines registered in Spain in 2009.
