August may have been too damp for many to get out too often on the bike, but up and down the UK riders are clearly splashing their cash on new motorcycles as August sees further double digit growth in registrations. The moped segment was down 13.4% compared to August the previous year, but new motorcycle sales were up more than 1,000 units, or 18.2% in total, to see the market 13.9% up as a whole for the month.
The growth in August was once again driven by the Naked and Adventure bike segments, which were up 29% and 28.9% respectively. Supersport sales were also up 21.9%, and Custom bikes 16.4%. Sales of Trail & Enduro bikes were also up by 11.3%, and Scooters by 4.7%. There was a large percentage increase in the sales of new Touring bikes, but this 36.3% increase only actually equates to a further 33 new machines on the road. Similarly, although Sport Touring sales dropped by 8.1% for the month of August, this only equates to 20 fewer bikes sold – although that segment remains 5.1% down year to date.
Mirroring the drop in moped sales, the 0 – 50cc engine band was also down 13.2%, or 125 fewer units sold. The 51 – 125cc learner legal engine band was up 11.8%, and the A2 legal 126 – 650cc engine band was up 15.7%. The A1 licence legal 651 – 1000cc engine band exhibited the strongest percentage growth of 38.2%, equivalent to an additional 413 units. There was also strong growth in the sales of bikes over 1000cc of 19.2%, which that segment up 5.9% year to date when compared with 2014.
As is always the case, Honda top the sales by manufacturer table, with 1,228 new bikes registered. Yamaha are in second with 1,030, followed by Lexmoto in third with 644 – the second consecutive month that the brand have made the top three. A resurgent Suzuki take fourth with 476 units sold, then Triumph (474), Kawasaki (374) and Piaggio (332).
The top selling bike of the month for a second time in a row is the learner legal Honda CB125F, with 184 being registered last month in the UK.
By style, the top selling bikes in August 2015 are as follows:
- Adventure Sport – Yamaha MT-09 Tracer
- Custom – Harley Davidson Sportster N883
- Naked – Honda CB125F
- Scooter – Honda PCX125
- Sport Touring – Kawasaki Z1000SX
- Supersport – Yamaha YZF R125 ABS
- Touring – BMW R1200RT
- Trail & Enduro – Husqvarna FE450
Overall the market is up 13.2% for 2015, with close to 10,000 extra new bikes sold in the UK, most probably in part thanks to the popularity of the Personal Contract Purchase. That’s around 2.5% higher than the original estimates from the Motorcycle Industry Association released at the beginning of the year!
