January saw the UK two-wheel industry get off to a great start to the year, and based on the latest figures from the MCIA, February was no different!
Sales of new motorcycles and scooters rose 17.9% when compared with February 2014, although moped sales fell 20.7%, leaving new two-wheel sales 11.7% up for the month as a whole.
The Naked bike segment has been very much the driving force behind this resurgence in sales, and February was no exception, with a 41.9% rise in registrations. However, the Adventure Sport segment saw an even bigger rise, 49.1% in total, from 375 machines last February to 559 this year. Supersport sales were also up 21.1%, with Trail & Enduro also seeing a 12.4% increase. Scooter sales remained relatively flat, just 2.6% up on last February, and Touring bike sales fell from 57 units last February to 56 this February. Custom bike sales fell by 14.5%, equivalent to 40 fewer units.
With moped sales falling, it is no surprise to see the 0 – 50cc engine band also down, 20.6% in total when compared with February 2014. The learner legal 51 – 125cc engine band was up 12.4%, the A2 legal 126 – 650cc engine band 21.1% and the 651 – 1000cc band a superb 59.1%. The over 1000cc engine band remained relatively flat for the month, down 2.7%, equivalent to just 11 fewer units sold.
As always, Honda retain the top selling manufacturer with 732 new units registered for February in total. Yamah retain 2nd spot with 517, followed by BMW (247), Lexmoto (237), Triumph (190), KTM (164) and Piaggio (163).
The top selling model of the month was the Honda NSC110WH, as pictured above, and the top selling bikes by style were as follows:
- Adventure Sport – Yamaha MT-09 Tracer
- Custom – Keeway Superlight
- Naked – Yamaha MT125
- Scooter – Honda NSC110WH
- Sport Touring – Kawasaki Z1000SX
- Supersport – Honda CBR125R
- Touring – BMW R1200RT
- Trail & Enduro – KTM 450EXC Factory Edition
After two months of 2015, the industry has already seen almost 1,000 additional new machines registered in the UK when compared with the same time last year. Long may this continue!
