UK: motorcycles -2.33% to August
The latest available data from the MCIA (the motorcycle industry trade association in the UK) show the poor start to the motorcycle market in the UK in 2023 having continued through August to leave the UK market down -2.33% YTD at 76,393 units sold.
July was -7.78% at 9,389 units sold, with August at -6.19% at 7,665 units sold. Though it is possible that September's numbers will show somewhat of a rebound - it being the second of the two months each year when new date-based licence plate numbers are introduced. An arcane idiosyncrasy, unique to the UK market, that sees vehicle registration dates change twice each year - distorting available market trend data.
Given the economic circumstances in the UK, these are probably as good a set of results as could be expected - even so it was the third-best market performance for the first eight months since at least before 2009 (behind 2022 with 78,216 units registered and 2016 with 79,234).
The small (and rapidly shrinking) UK moped market was -30.98% (just 3,473 units YTD). Total new PTW registrations in the UK were -4.06% for the YTD in the UK at 79,866 units, but still the fifth best for the first eight months of the year in the UK since before 2009.
Within that number, 2,647 new electric powertrain units were registered in the UK in the first eight months of 2023 (-45.2% down from the 4,832 electric units registered in the first eight months of 2022). Total scooter sales in UK YTD were 16,242 units (-14.1% YTD)
For the record: the UK motorcycle market was +2.01% for the full year 2022 at 108,510 units - the highest since 2016 and second-best since before 2009. However, growth evaporated in the second half of 2022 with five out the six months negative; two of those months were greater than -11% down, and that negative trend has clearly continued into 2023 so far. Total new PTW registrations in the UK in 2022 were +1.95% for the full year at 115,633 units.
