UK Motorcycle Market Overview (2008)

Registrations of new motorcycles fell by 3.4% in 2008 (source: http://www.mcia.co.uk/). However the devil is in the detail and closer scrutiny reveals that sales of mopeds (powered two wheelers >50cc) and scooters remained unchanged, sales of new motorcycles fell by 6%. There has also been a shift towards smaller capacity machines – according to British Dealer New five out of the ten top selling models were 125cc machines (i.e. ‘learner’ bikes). In terms of the market mix, 2/3rd of the 139,725 new PTWs registered in 2008 were motorcycles – the remaining 1/3rd were scooters or mopeds. In terms of brand share, Honda continues to dominate, although with Yamaha and Suzuki hot on its heels. These three Japanese manufacturers account for nearly two out of every five new machines registered. However, just like the Japanese in the 1960’s, the Chinese are beginning to make inroads with smaller capacity PTWs. In December 2008 the best selling moped, and scooter were both Chinese brands (Baotian and Wuyang respectively).
Sales of scooters and mopeds held firm compared to a 6% fall in motorcycle sales during 2008.
So how does this compare to the car market? Sales in 2008 fell by 11.3% (source: http://www.smmt.co.uk/), which is a more dramatic decrease than for PTWs. However, diesel cars accounted for a record 43.6% share of the market and that is over three times the share recorded in 2000. Meanwhile the mini segment saw the only growth in 2008 and the market share for superminis rose to 33.4%.
So both the PTW and car markets experienced similar fluctuations - an overall decrease in sales but an increase in bemand for smaller 'utility' vehicles.