NMDA ‘disappointed’ by September registrations increase

Commenting on the September figures for motorcycle registrations, released by the Motorcycle Industry Association, Stephen Latham, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK, said: “Motorcycle registrations continued to increase with a year-to-date growth of 12.3 per cent, however it was disappointing to see that September sales were only up by 7.2 per cent following the 65-plate change.”

In September, the number of two-wheeler registrations was 13,536, and the year-to-date figure was 93,725.

Latham continued, “Scooters sales were down -6.6 per cent in the month, and bikes in the sub 50cc category continued their downward trend, posting a -17.1 per cent decline in September.

“The 51-125cc sector recorded an 11 per cent growth, and sales 650-1000c mid powered machines were up 22.5 per cent in the month. It was also positive to see a 16 per cent increase in sales of prestigious motorcycles over 1000cc – indicating owners of these expensive models were keen to hold out and purchase the new 65-plate.

“In 2014, bike registrations passed the 100,000 mark. By spring there were predictions of a further 10 per cent growth in 2015 totalling 110,000 motorcycles on the road, and a few months ago expectations that even this predication could be beaten, however in hindsight this now seems unrealistic.

“Honda was the top manufacturer this month with 2,457 machines registered, followed by Yamaha with 1,472 units, and closely followed by BMW with 1,417 machines registered.

“Motorcycle dealers feel that overall the market is not performing as well as expected. Today the cost of acquiring a new bike on PCP deals and other attractive finance packages is moving customer away from buying used bikes in favour of new bikes at lower monthly re-payments – resulting in a similar overall market size to last year.

“The NMDA looks forward to seeing what the final quarter of 2015 has to offer in the motorcycle market.”