Better weather boosts May motorcycle sales

There was good news for motorcycle dealers, as the latest new motorcycle and scooter figures show overall sales in May were up 0.5 per cent against May 2012. Under 50cc scooter sales were down 24.8 per cent in April, while all larger over 50cc motorcycle sales have increased by 4.1 per cent. "Whilst it is positive that motorcycle sales increased slightly last month, there is still a long road to recovery for the motorcycle market" said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.

Robinson continued “Although sales of smaller bikes continue to suffer, bigger leisure bikes fared better in May, with almost all sectors recording a healthy growth in sales. “With the majority of these machines being purchased for leisure riding it is likely that the warm dry weather has had a positive impact on the sale of these bikes. Therefore the NMDA hope to see this trend continue throughout the summer. “The NMDA continue to call on motorcycle manufacturers to introduce more customer friendly offers to their forecourts that would boost sales and profit.”