Demand for motorcycles continued its downward trend in October marking 10 consecutive months of decline in the market.
Registrations in October fell by 13.7% compared with the same period last year and the year-to-date decline currently stands at -15.3%.
A total of 6,686 motorcycles were registered in the month compared with 7,743 units in October 2016.
Stephen Latham, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK, said: “This could be down to the fact that we have almost gone through the pre-registration euro 3 bikes, however it must also be remembered that last year’s October registrations were beginning to get artificially inflated with these pre-registrations.
“This point is verified when you compare the sector with the largest volume and percentage deficit being the 51-125cc sector, which was down 33.1%, meaning that 13,659 less machines were registered so far this year. We all know it was this particular sector that had to pre-register masses of euro 3 light motorcycles. This is a clear indication of what has distorted this year’s market.
“If you compare all the other sectors above 125cc, the decline could be put down to the slowdown in the economy with the uncertainty around Brexit and the decline in sterling’s value. The reality is that so far this year we have registered 59,322 motorcycles above 125cc, compared with 61,275 registrations in the first 10 months of last year, which is a decline of only 3.19%.
He said a decline of around 3% was comparable to car registrations for the same period, which were down 4.6%, and light commercials down 3.4%.
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