The results are in… UK motorcycle sales slide 83% in April 2020

Sales of motorcycles in the United Kingdom slid 83.5% in April 2020 compared with the same period in 2019 as the effects of the coronavirus-initiated lockdown took its toll.

The UK entered ‘lockdown’ on March 23 and spanned the entirely of April, leading to dealerships being closed and shipping to be disrupted. As such, motorcycle companies were always bracing for a heavy hit to sales in what will be one of the toughest months ever experienced for the industry.  

According to the MCIA, it recorded a total of 1,623 registrations for April, down on the 9,820 units that were shifted in April 2019. The slide was felt across the board with scooters down 72.4% and mopeds/motorcycles sliding 86.7%.

Even so, the motorcycle industry did fare somewhat better than the car industry, which this week reported a massive 97% drop in sales year-on-year.

It means sales of motorcycles after the first four months of 2020 are down 31.1% compared with 2019.

Lockdown has proceeded to continue into May, though it is hopes dealerships will be among the businesses allowed to reopen from the moment restrictions are lifted on what is rumoured to be Monday May 11th.

What were the biggest selling motorcycles in April 2020?

Though all manufacturers suffered a slide in sales, Honda remained the best-selling marque overall after registering 312 models, still a sizeable margin up on second place Lexmoto with 177 units.

The best-selling two-wheel model for April, however, was the Yamaha NMAX 125, accounting for 97 of Yamaha’s 173 unit total.

Elsewhere, Kawasaki topped the Sport/Tour segment and the +1000cc class with the Ninja 650 and Ninja 1000 SX respectively, though most individual models were sold in the dozens or less.

Indeed, some classes suffered more than others with just eight examples of the best-selling Adventure Sport model (listed as multiple motorcycles) being shifted in April, compared with the BMW R 1250 GS which sold 272 in March.