Motorcycle market down 7.3% in January

Powered two-wheeler (PTW) registrations in January were 7.3 per cent down on the same month last year. Figures released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) show a total of 6,114 motorcycles, scooters and mopeds were registered – 481 fewer than in January 2008.

Motorcycle registrations were down only 1.6 per cent, but poor January weather had a negative effect on the moped market which declined by 26.5 per cent. Scooter registrations were down by 15.6 per cent.

The PTW market continues to show greater resilience than the car market, which suffered a decline of almost 31 per cent last month according to the SMMT.

All PTW categories saw drops in registration numbers, except for naked motorcycles with an increase of 20.9 per cent, sport/touring (+ 17.5 per cent) and supersports which showed a 16.6 per cent increase.

The biggest-selling motorcycle was the Honda CBF 125M and the biggest -selling make was Yamaha with 1,000 registrations, followed by Honda and Suzuki.