Dealers optimistic that motorcycle market will perform well in 2019

“Despite January being a typically low volume month for motorcycle sales, it was encouraging to see that registrations were up 8.7% on the same period last year”, said Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.

A total of 5,935 new bikes were put on the road in January, and all power sectors showed growth with the exception of the sub 50cc and over 1000cc machines. 

Manufacturer wise, Honda was the leading seller registering 1,496 bikes in January. 227 of these machines were of the PCX 125 model in the 51-125cc sector and 158 units of the CRF 1000 model in the 651-1000cc sector.

KTM were in second position with 589 registrations, with many dealers reporting that there was a push for them to acquire additional bikes from KTM in expectation of a price rise related to currency exchange rates. Some of this extra inventory was probably self-registered, boosting KTM’s position in the market.

Yamaha were in third position with 535 registrations. Most surprisingly was the Manufacturer Husqvarna which led the 126-650 sector with 107 motorcycles registered. This put them in seventh position. 

Latham continued, “Overall dealers are optimistic that the market will perform well long term in 2019, but there is some concern that manufacturer targets seem very ambitious. With uncertainties around Brexit set to continue, it is difficult to plan and budget this year as a motorcycle retailer.”