The latest data available from the MCIA, the motorcycle industry association in the UK, shows new motorcycle registration growth continuing to slow from the good start to 2019 with sales at just +1.58% for the year to September (83,906 units).
While many in the UK are pointing to Brexit and general uncertainty, with consumer confidence low, it does fit with the trend being seen elsewhere in the European market.
The UK motorcycle market was +3.45% (12,129 units) in September, having been +2.85% in July (9,223 units) and -8.51% (6,335 units) in August.
Moped market volumes remain low in the UK, but there is growth of +15.58% YTD (4,784 units) to put total new PTW registrations at +2.25% YTD (88,690 units), the strongest since 2016.
The largest single market sector in the UK remains 'Naked' style bikes, which accounted for 29,172 units YTD for a growth rate of +2.8%. The Adventure Sport sector is the second largest, growing at +9.0% YTD (16,231 units). In percentage terms, the biggest losers were the relatively small Sport/Tour (-21.2%, 2,128 units) and Touring (-13.3%, 1,857 units) sectors; Trail/Enduro bikes are +8.0% YTD in the UK with 5,144 units sold. Scooters were +3.9% YTD at 15,968 units.
Honda was market share leader in September (2,601 units), followed by BMW, Yamaha, Triumph and Kawasaki. The R 1250 GS Adventure was the top selling Adventure Sport model in the UK in September (299 units), with the R 1250 RT leading the Touring sector and the R 1250 RS replacing the Kawasaki Z1000 SX as the best selling Sport/Tour model.
