Bike market sees end-of-year registrations spike and overall figures up despite dealer struggles

Despite market difficulty and dealership closures across 2024, data shared by the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) has revealed a slight increase in overall new bike registrations for last year, when compared with 2023.

• Related: Industry data shows reducing demand for large capacity motorcycles whilst small bike sales soar

According to their data, the UK bike industry ended 2024 with a total of 112,649 new combustion bikes registered, compared with 109,528 across 2023.

When comparing December 2024 with the same month in the previous year, figures jump from 4980 to 10,987 – but much of that spike may well be down to dealers pre-registering machines ahead of the new Euro5+ regulations.

“The slight growth in the market is purely a result of unusual registration activity and not an indication of growth,” MCIA CEO, Tony Campbell admitted. “2024 has been an incredibly challenging year for the sector, with several dealer closures and rising pressure on businesses to maintain cashflow to ride out the next few months.”

One of the key reasons for this increased registration activity is the arrival of Euro5+ emissions regulations, with manufacturers and dealers now attempting to shift any remaining new-old stock.

This is backed up by the fact that the best-selling ‘Road Sport’ model of the month was the Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX, with 104 registrations. The bike is now being replaced with a £12,249 Ninja 1100SX meeting Euro5+ regs.

Tough market conditions saw the UK sector lose a number of well-established dealerships close across 2024. These included multi-franchise dealership chain, Completely Motorbikes, as well as Saltire Motorcycles of Edinburgh, and the Pidcock group.

Campbell pointed out that the sector has traditionally weathered tough times and called for the Government to recognise that changes in the budget, such as the increase in employer national insurance, will not create growth.

Electric bike sales continued to struggle, with registrations down to just 3750 across all categories for the full 12 months. This compares to 4061 across 2023.