Caution over public transport boosts two-wheeler sales

Sales figures for July, recently released by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) have given a welcome and much-needed boost to the morale – and bottom line – of motorcycle dealers.

There were increases in sales of machines in every sector, leading to a 41.9 per cent rise across the market, compared with July last year, and Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), which represents UK motorcycle retailers, is in no doubt that the pandemic is responsible for the upturn, at least in part.

Says Latham: “The public remains cautious to return to trains and buses, which is notably benefitting sales of scooters and motorcycles.” Scooter sales were particularly buoyant, rising by 56.6 per cent (to 3,576 units, up from 2,284 from July last year, something which Latham attributes to a positive campaign which the NMDA, along with the MCIA have run, spreading the message of ‘unlock your freedom’ and describing bikes as ‘COVID safe to ride.’

Motorcycle sales in July grew by 42 per cent, with 13,093 units registered. Individual sector performances in the month saw most of the growth coming from less powerful machines, but all engine bands experienced an uptick, from 0-50cc to 1000+cc. The 51-251cc rose by a remarkable 62.5 per cent, while the 1000+cc segment rose 38.8 per cent.

July’s best-selling model was the Honda PCX125 (458 registrations) and, indeed, Honda outsold all other brands, with 2,554 bikes sold. Yamaha was second, with 1,607 registrations, while third place went to Lexmoto, which specialises in sales of budget price 125cc bikes, with 1,163 machines.

So, prospects for the two-wheeler market are bullish, but Stephen Latham is convinced that even better could yet come, and he believes that the Government and local authorities could play a major part in the two-wheel revival. He concludes: “Current riders and new entrants to the motorcycle market are becoming increasingly assured of the benefits of motorcycles. These benefits are that it permits isolated travel, a less-congested commute and lower fuel consumption. It’s a shame that the Government does not instruct all local authorities to allow bus lanes to be used by scooters and motorcycles; instead, they retain a fixation that pushbikes are the only way to commute.”