2024 starts off strongly for powered two wheelers, electric adoption remains slow

“With the final months of 2023 signalling a challenging time for motorcycle sales it is promising to see a turnaround as we enter 2024. It is encouraging to see these positive sales when we look at the current economic climate and the impact of the usual winter months.” says Symon Cook, Head of National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), commenting on the latest MCIA registration figures.

In January, there was a 4.8 per cent increase year-on-year in total registrations, from 5,765 to 6,043 units. Total moped and motorcycle sales have increased by 5.3 per cent and 5.1 per cent respectively.

Most motorcycle categories saw an increase in registrations in January. The ‘adventure’ and ‘modern classic’ category witnessed the most significant rises, going from 978 to 1,128 and from 524 to 631 units respectively, equating to increases of 15.3 per cent and 20.4 per cent. Looking at the figures, most motorcycle categories continue to see growth, however, some saw a slight decrease, such as ‘competition’ which saw a drop of -8.6 per cent and ‘touring’ which saw a decrease of -43.4 per cent.

In the current market landscape, electric registrations increased from 201 to 253 units, an increase year-on-year of 25.9 per cent signalling that electric adoption is slow but steadily increasing.

January’s figures also reveal a decrease in 501-750cc motorbikes from 648 to 494 (-23.8 per cent), however, 126-500cc motorcycles saw an increase of 24.9 per cent and 751-1000cc saw an increase of 36.3 per cent.

Honda remains the top-selling brand in the market, with 1,333 units sold in the month of January. Yamaha comes in at second with 702 units. Triumph completes the top three with 616 units, whilst Piaggio completes the top 10 with 137 units.

Cook concluded: “With January typically being a slower month for two-wheeler registrations these figures signal a good start to the year. Regarding electric motorcycle registrations, it is great to see a slight increase in registrations, considering that these have typically struggled, especially in comparison to their four-wheel counterparts and we can expect and hope this increase to continue throughout the year. Hopefully, as the year progresses so too will the registrations of all types of motorcycles.”