UK Motorcycle Sales | Dip for July but Triumph, Royal Enfield fly high

Sales of motorcycles in the United Kingdom suffered their first dip in several months for July 2021 but remain comfortably up on totals for the year to date.

Following a run of months with sales well up on 2020 - when the UK was gripped in lockdown - July 2021 represented the first like-for-like comparison with last year when showrooms were opened up again.

With sales soaring in July 2020 as punters took advantage of the new measures, July 2021 sales couldn’t compete with a monthly total down from 14,078 units to 12,437 units according to the MCIA, equating to 11.6%.

There was a downward trend across the board with modest categories down in double figures in terms of percentage, while volume categories like scooters were also comfortably down on July 2020.

The only category that did show growth was the booming electric motorcycle sector, which was up 171%, even if it accounts for only a fraction of overall UK motorcycle sales for now.

However, it doesn’t dent the vast gains in overall sales in the year to date with a growth of 21% in the first seven months of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020.

Best selling motorcycles in the UK for July 2021

Broken down by brand, Honda maintained its run at the head of the sales charts with an impressive 2,021 units shifted in July, followed by Yamaha in its customary second place thanks to having the best-selling model outright with the Yamaha NMAX 125.

However, the big success story for July - and 2021 as a whole - was Triumph, which was spurred on to the third best-selling brand by continued impressive sales of the Trident 660, which in turn ended the month as the best-selling naked motorcycle.

This is despite the model being considerably pricier than the 125-300cc models that regularly top the category. It made Triumph the best-selling ‘big motorcycle’ brand in that its figures aren’t inflated by more popular low powered models like scooters.

BMW was the fourth best-selling brand, despite seeing its customary top spot in the Adventure category with the R 1250 GS Adventure toppled by the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT. 

Lexmoto is fifth with its range of low-powered urban runarounds, followed by Kawasaki and KTM, while Royal Enfield continued its march up the order thanks to strong early sales of the Meteor 350. Ducati and Piaggio rounded out the top ten.