By Garret Maher, MAG Ireland Researcher
With January over and the evenings getting that bit brighter, now is a great time to put the misery of Winter behind us and start looking forward to Spring. It is also a time when many of us begin to make a few plans for the year ahead.
For some of you I’m sure, 2015 will be the year when you finally buy your first motorbike, while for others, it is the year when your old bike no longer has the stamina to get you around and you’ll trade up for the next chapter in your motorcycling story. Whatever you do, hopefully 2015 will see another upward curve for motorcycle sales figures in Ireland.
Following on from our previous article last September which outlined a 21% increase in motorcycle sales in Ireland to the end of August 2014, this article will provide a more in-depth look at the number of Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) in Ireland and Europe last year.
Europe
First off, let’s highlight how our European neighbours led the way in 2014, with the most recent data showing an increase in sales of PTWs of 1.4% to the end of November 2014, not a huge increase, but an increase nonetheless. If you can picture 1.1 million motorcycles, scooters and mopeds on European roads, it’s fair to say that’s a lot of extra PTWs. The best performing market in 2014 was Spain, with an increase in sales of 16.6%, followed by our closest neighbours, the UK, with a 10.5% increase (all data courtesy of acem.eu).
Ireland
Honda CB500X
Here at home, Ireland has also seen a sharp rise in sales of new motorcycles, with an increase of 9.3%. However, it must be remembered that this increase is coming off a historically low level of sales. In fact it represents an increase of just 82 new motorcycles, from 878 newly registered in 2013 to 960 in 2014 so while we clearly have room for improvement we can at least celebrate that the trend is upwards.
On the other hand, the number of used motorcycles newly registered in Ireland has declined slightly. These are usually imported bikes so this number may reflect a more competitive market in Ireland, the chilling effects of the Sterling exchange rate, or a combination of both. Unfortunately the figures can’t tell us the answer to that.
Sales numbers from SIMI provide a useful breakdown of the top selling motorcycles in Ireland. The Suzuki GN125 leads the table with 49 units sold in Ireland last year, while the BMW R1200 GS adventure is still proving to be a very popular touring bike with 43 new 2014 models registered. Honda also had a big market share with a number of their models selling 20+ units, including the NT700 Deauville as well as several scooter models across the range.
Looking back over the piece I wrote last September, I said:
“let’s be optimistic about the future, if sales can increase by 20% -25% every year then Irish motorcycling, and in turn MAG Ireland has a very secure future”.
Although I am still optimistic about the future, I was perhaps being a little too optimistic! I’m sure 2015 will see some growth in motorcycle sales, so maybe this time I will be a bit more cautious and predict that we see a rise of 5-10% this year.
On that note, the Irish Motorbike & Scooter Show which takes place in the RDS at the end of February should deliver a much needed boost in sales, with every major brand exhibiting there. The past few years have been the most difficult period ever in the Irish motorcycle market and with many of us overdue an upgrade at this stage, there should be ample reason to be positive about the future.
Garret Maher is a volunteer researcher with MAG Ireland. Based in Galway, he is a Geographer recently returned to Ireland after four years working as a lecturer in the Middle East. You’ll find his previous article on sales stats here:
https://www.magireland.org/2014/news-media/simi-motorcycle-sales-up-21-percent/