January motorcycle sales – all sectors show growth

The latest figures released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association have shown an increase in demand for motorcycles, but it is not time to get carried away by this apparent success, according to the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA). “Demand for motorcycles in January was up 11.8 per cent on the same period last year, registering 5,458 units. However, this was expected as last year the market was flooded with a high volume of pre-registered bikes for sale,” said Stephen Latham, head of the NMDA.

Most of the power ranges showed signs of growth, including light weight bikes up to 125cc of which a high number were pre-registered in 2017. There has been a steady decline in the sub 50cc moped market, however even that was up last month.

The most significant growth came from the 126-650cc market which was up almost 40 per cent, registering 1,279 units this year compared to just 914 last year.

The over 1000cc power-two-wheelers showed a positive improvement with 26.1 per cent growth – indicating that the dedicated enthusiastic rider is still prepared to upgrade their expensive motorcycles.

The top selling brand in January was Honda with 1,272 bikes registered, followed by Yamaha who registered 564 bikes, and thirdly KTM with 449 bikes.

Latham continued, “January is not typically known for being a high volume month for bike sales, so this is a clear indication of new customer confidence in the power-two-wheel market.”