With the now customary reader health warning about the reliability of new motorcycle registration numbers for early 2017 (see our Spain report with regard to the Euro 3 effect), the latest data released by ANCMA (the Milan based motorcycle industry trade association for Italy) put new motorcycle registrations for the first two months of the year down at – 11.43 percent (at 10,286 units), but with sales of the pre-registered 2016s, the picture is likely to be one of a level market, year-on-year, or even one with some modest further growth.
For the full year 2016 motorcycle registrations in Italy were +21.49 percent at 75,936 units, a third straight year of growth.
In total PTW terms, January/February registrations were -10.02 percent at 22,389 units in total. For the full year 2016 they were +13.26 percent at 193,814 units – also a third straight year of growth, the Italian market having fallen to a low of 153,933 total PTW registrations in 2013.
The top-selling motorcycle in Italy in January and February 2017 was Honda’s CRF 100 L Africa Twin (511 units), followed closely by BMW’s R 1200 Gs Adventure (508 units); the positions were reversed for the full year 2016 with BMW’s R 1200 GS the top seller (3,329 units), followed by Honda’s Africa Twin (2,840 units); Yamaha’s MT-09 Tracer (2,609 units – third so far this year also); Honda’s NC 750 X (2,355 units – also 4th so far in 2017) and Ducati’s Scrambler 800 (2,264 units – also 5th so far this year).
Scooter registrations were -11.96 percent for the first two months of 2017 at 5,402 units.
Enduro style models are the strongest of the “major” sectors in styling terms in Italy so far in 2017, closely followed by Naked/’traditional’ style bikes.
