Motorcycles and scooters: Market is increasingly down. In Italy it is collapsing

We remain the country with the largest number of registered motorcycles but in the month of Agaust, the market suffered decrease in sales higher than any other country in the European area

With the end of the summer, the European motorcycle and moped market showed a general decline in sales with a European average of about 15 percentage points lost. This figure increases further, doubling when compared with the same period of 2012 (-30.8%).

An analysis from ACEM (the association that represents the interests of motorcycle and moped producers on a European level) shows that the decline in sales is generalized and widespread in the vast majority of EU member states. However, it is especially the Italian statistics that are striking. In Italy, this sudden halt in motorcycle sales has been by far the most obvious (-31%). Nevertheless, Italy continues to be the European country with the largest number of motorcycles registered during the year (more than 120,000), followed by Germany (110,799) and France (108,731).

As regards the market for scooters, it seems to deal with even deeper changes. The sales decrease is more pronounced than that faced by the motorcycle industry. Also regarding scooters, Italy does mark the most obvious decline in sales: -38%. In spite of a decrease in sales of 16.8 percentage points from the beginning of year, France remains the main market for scooters in the EU, while the Netherlands exceeds Poland in second place. Only fifth, because of the number of scooters registered, Italy, is ousted by Germany as well.