Motorcycle sales continue to rise in July

“July marked another good month for the motorcycle market with sales up 13.9 per cent,” said Stephen Latham, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.

A total 1205 more machines were registered against July 2013. There was an improvement overall in all power sectors, and it was encouraging to see an 8.5 per cent increase in sales of lightweight bikes under 50cc for the first time in two years.

The most significant improvements came from the two largest style sectors – with ‘naked’ bikes up 39.2 per cent with 2438 registrations, and ‘Scooters’ up 16.7 per cent at 2112 registrations.

Latham continued, “The market is definitely showing signs of renewed confidence and it is pleasing to see the commuter scooter market recovering strongly along with a general improvement in the more traditional larger biker’s machines.

“Volumes so far in 2014 are very encouraging with year-to-date market growth of 11.4 per cent equating to 6553 more motorcycles on the road in the first seven months of this year.

“Many dealers are already reporting a good order-bank to the lead-up to the plate change in September and so we are hopeful this trend will continue into the later part of the year.”