Though hit slightly less hard than Spain and Italy so far, the latest data available from the MCIA, the motorcycle industry association in the UK, shows that new motorcycle registration growth in the UK also came to a crashing halt in March and April, with sales -22.19% for March at 12,484 units, and -83.93% (1,467 units) in April, having been +2.29% in January (5,709 units) and +3.48% in February (4,254).
March is usually the highest month for new motorcycle registrations in the UK - March 2019 was +8.88% over 2018 at 16,045 units; April 2019 was +4.65% at 9,130 units. For 2020 YTD, the UK is -31.41% with 23,916 new motorcycle registrations (compared to 34,867 for the first four months of 2019).
In total PTW terms, the UK was -83.48% in April at 1,609 units and is -31.17% for the YTD at 25,276 units. Moped registrations are -26.76% YTD at 1,360 units.
The largest single market sector in the UK remains 'Naked' style bikes, followed by Scooters and the Adventure Sport sector, broadly equal. The MCIA data has motorcycle use (the 'Park') at 1.25 million in the UK in 2018.
By way of context - motorcycle registrations in the UK grew slightly in 2019, +0.72% with 100,472 units sold. Many in the UK pointed to Brexit and general economic uncertainty, with consumer confidence low, as the reasons for the UK to lag so badly behind the 2019 and prior growth seen in most other markets in Europe. Along with Italy, France, Germany and Spain, the UK is one of Europe's 'Big Five' markets (actually, the 5th largest) who between them account for over 80% of new motorcycle registrations annually in Europe.
