According to the latest data available from ANESDOR, the motorcycle industry trade association in Spain, new motorcycle registrations for 2016 were up by +17.08 percent at 154,074 units. This is the best result since 212,467 motorcycles were registered in 2008, and the third year of sustained growth since the low of 87,498 motorcycles were registered in 2013.
As has been seen elsewhere in Europe, registrations in the final two or three months of 2016 do not necessarily reflect sales as manufacturers and their dealers advance-registered existing Euro 3 compliant inventory in advance of the December 31st cut-off – Euro 4 compliance became mandatory for all new motorcycle models throughout Europe effective January 1st 2017.
There were 171,304 PTWs registered in Spain, an increase of +16.07 percent over 2015. This represents the best performance since 177,563 units were registered in 2009, and the third year of sustained growth since the market low of 102,580 registrations in 2013. For context however, there is some way to go before returning to pre-recession levels, which saw 395,653 PTWs registered in 2007.
Moped registrations in Spain were +7.70 percent for 2016 at 17,230 units. High displacement motorcycles saw the fastest growth of 21.6 percent, with 62,625 units registered in 2016.
Over the last 6 years, the total number of motorcycles on the road in Spain has increased by 10 percent, from 2,311,346 in 2007 to 2,996,212 in 2015. The number of 7-year-old+ motorcycles has grown by 62 percent during that period. The average age of motorcycles is 14.7 years, which compares unfavourably to other countries such as the UK (13.7), France (10.5) and Italy (8.6) – ANESDOR are advocating incentive plans for new motorcycles.
ANESDOR’s sustainable plan for the future includes increased availability of parking for motorcycles, improved visibility at intersections, create and expand the advanced stop zone (and facilitate filtering), excluding motorcycles from pollution-related movement restrictions, improving the taxation on bikes (Spain has the highest taxation for 250-500cc motorcycles in Europe), asphalt maintenance campaigns and promoting campaigns for harmonious cooperation between all types of road users.
ANESDOR Secretary General, Jose Maria Riano, said that “2016 has been a year of consolidation of the positive trend of PTW growth”. He added that “growth is influenced by the change in European emissions regulations for motorcycles, with Euro 4 having an effect on very strong growth in recent months”.
He went on to highlight the positive contribution of the motorcycle in urban mobility: “The evolution of the market indicates that the motorcycle is chosen by millions of people for their daily commutes, and increasingly by logistics companies. This choice derives from the growing awareness about lower environmental impact among other factors”.
Looking ahead, ANESDOR predict a 3 percent growth in 2017 and expect to register 176,500 units (157,700 motorcycles and 17,800 mopeds), in spite of the adverse effect of Euro 4 regulations.
