By now, we know that motorcycle brands around the world are still launching off of the rollercoaster highs and lows of lockdowns. While Honda’s Q2 sales showed more than double the revenue, Ducati reported their best half-year ever back in July, while KTM looks toward the future with similarly impressive sales.
Sure, Harley-Davidson might be having a tougher time of things recently, but we can say with absolute certainty that the benefits of a diversifying market are still paying off – and that includes Europe’s own contributions.
According to Enrico Punsalang (RideApart), a report from the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) shows strong growth in their community.
All told, 873,985 new motorcycles were registered between January and September, marking a juicy +11.8% increase in registrations over the year prior.
Here are the breakdown stats by country, in order of most to least:
- Italy: +19.4% (271,552 new registrations)
- Spain: +13.4% (154,019 new registrations)
- Germany: +9.6% (190,490 new registrations)
- France: +8.7% (168,118 new registrations)
- UK: +0.4% (89,806 new registrations)
We’re told Chinese manufacturers were not included in this report, so assume the numbers are even higher than on paper.
Of course, not all L-type vehicles fared as well as motorbikes for this year’s stats.
You’d think mopeds would be on the rise for popularity on the Old Continent, but judging by the -25% plummet in registrations, the concept of a weaker two-wheeled offering on today’s streets doesn’t appear to be as appealing.
Of course, the dwindling sales of the European moped is to be expected. Bicycles bristling with batteries now roll up alongside electric scooters with fairings reminiscent of the GSX-600R bike, with further high-yank, small-capacity machines flooding markets on the daily.
In other words, the moped’s corner of the market is now being shared with all of the above and a bit more besides… not ideal for the little moped, but then again, less stringent licensing means moped might just be the machine dipping under the table for this report.
Regardless, ACEM’s secretary General is excited to show the strong growth of Europes powered two-wheeler market:
| Strong growth of the European market in the first nine months highlights consumers’ sustained long-term interest in powered two-wheelers, both for daily commuting and for leisure.”
Early figures for October confirm the positive trend for motorcycles, with moped volumes partially recovering.” – Antonio Perlot, Secretary General (ACEM via RideAPart) |
In which direction do you think Europe’s market will lean for the coming year?