ACEM, the Brussels based international motorcycle industry trade association, says that combined registrations of new motorcycles and mopeds in the EU (total Powered Two Wheelers/PTWs) reached 240,924 units during the first quarter of 2018, representing a decrease of -6.1% compared to same period of the previous year.
Registrations increased in some of the largest European markets, including Spain (32,170 motorcycles and mopeds, +11.5%) and the UK (24,609 units, +5.6%), remained stable in Italy (49,993 units, -0.6%) and decreased in France (47,081 units, -8%) and Germany (36,788 units, -13.5%).
Motorcycle registrations were up by +4.7% (203,853 units) during the first 3 months of the year. With 46,126 units (+1.4%), Italy remains the largest European motorcycle market, followed by France (36,979 motorcycles, +9.1%), Germany (36,058 motorcycles, +1.9%), Spain (29,063 motorcycles, +16.7%) and the UK (23,485 motorcycles, +7.4%).
Registrations in the moped segment were down by -40.2 percent (37,071 units) due in large part to the moped Euro 3/Euro 4 transition that became effective on January 1, 2018. The largest moped market in Europe was France (10,102 units, -41.5%), followed by the Netherlands (8,856 units, -35.3%), Italy (3,867 units,
-19.4%), Belgium (3,458 units, -14.8%) and Spain (3,107 units, - 21.4%).
Combined registrations of electric mopeds, motorcycles and quadricycles reached 8,281 units during the first three months of 2018. This represents an increase of +51.2% compared to the same period of 2017. The largest European market in terms of volume was France with a total of 2,150 electric vehicles, followed by the Netherlands (1,703 units), Belgium (1,472 units), Spain (1,258 units) and Italy (592 units).
In motorcycle terms, a total of 1,726 electric motorcycles were registered in the EU between January and March 2018 (+118.5% on a year-on-year basis). The largest European markets for electric motorcycles are France (732 units, +228%), Spain (311 units, +161%), the Netherlands (202 units, +304%) and Germany (173 vehicles,
-10.4%).
Registrations of electric mopeds reached 5,824 units (+50.8% compared to the first three months of 2017).
