UK: 2020 motorcycle registrations -3.91%
As seen elsewhere in Europe, 2020 motorcycle registrations in the UK ended with a rush to pre-register unsold Euro 4 units that do not meet the strict timescale criteria set by the EU for the end of series derogation approved in advance of Euro 5 final implementation. This has no doubt distorted the statistics in the UK, Germany, Italy and most of Europe's markets - majors and otherwise.
According to the latest available data from the MCIA, the motorcycle industry trade association in the UK, motorcycle registrations were +53.99% in December, at 7,042 units, and were also likely distorted by pre-registrations in October and November too - maybe even as far back as July 2020. For the whole of 2020, registrations are said to have been down by only -3.91% at 96,539 units for the year.
In total PTW terms, December was reported to be +57.17% (7,808 units), with registrations running at -2.83% (103,656 units) for the full year.
In further evidence of the rush to pre-register unsold Euro 4 units in the UK, Honda dropped to the number 3 spot in market share terms in December (having been the market share leader all year), behind Lexmoto and Suzuki.
By way of context - motorcycle registrations in the UK grew slightly in 2019, +0.72%, with 100,472 units sold. Along with Italy, France, Germany and Spain, the UK remains one of Europe's 'Big Five' markets (actually, the fifth largest) and between them they account for just over 80% of annual new registrations in Europe.
