Cycle News Friday, October 15, 2004

UK BIKE SALES UP IN SEPTEMBER

The latest from the MCIA, who are happy to see a small improvemnet in new bike sales;

Healthy Motorcycle Sales Marks Way Ahead For Industry

September is an important month for motorcycle registrations and figures released today from the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCI) show how a new number plate can influence sales.

Spectacular growth came from the increasingly popular Adventure Sport sector which saw an increase of 55%.

The moped and motorcycle markets continued their recovery, each achieving a 7% increase on new registrations seen last September.

Scooters represent the biggest single category of bike registration and account for more than one-third of all registrations. The month of September has been of increasing importance for the scooter market in recent years and this month saw a 9% rise in all scooter registrations compared to September 2003.

Interest in sports motorcycles also remains strong. The SuperSport motorcycle class grew by 7% as did the dual-purpose (on/off road) Trail/Enduro class. The Naked class of unfaired motorcycles, another mainstay of the industry, also improved on September 2003.

Craig Carey-Clinch, MCI’s Director of Public Affairs said “This month’s figures provide further evidence both of the continued interest in motorcycling and the growing diversity of people taking it up. These changes combined with last month's government announcement that the amount of motorcycling grew by around 10% last year, while the casualty rate per mile fell is welcome news for everyone.

Although year to date registrations are still showing a decline over 2003, the recovery of new motorcycle sales over the last three months indicates that year-end figures will not be as dismal as some have predicted" added Carey-Clinch.
(Source: http://195.224.59.217/news/archives_2000/news_details.asp?id=3482)