The Government’s message to not use public transport is clearly benefitting scooters and motorcycles sales as the market saw a 14.8% rise compared with June last year, according to the latest MCIA figures.
Motorcycle sales grew by 14.8% to a total of 13,361 units registered in June. Except for the heavier machines in the ‘touring and naked’ sectors, all other variants showed increases in registrations.
Scooter sales rose by over 46%, an increase of 835 units from last year, showing that these machines are becoming more popular among commuters as a valid alternative to train, underground or bus.
The rise in popularity for scooters follows the campaign NMDA and MCIA have been running over the past weeks to spread the message ‘unlock your freedom’ advising that it is ‘COVID-safe to ride.'
As expected, all lower powered machines up to 650cc experienced an increase while the larger powered motorcycles showed modest declines. The 651-1000cc segment was down -9.3% and motorcycles over 1000cc declined marginally -1.6%.
The biggest selling model in June was the Honda PCX125 with 445 registrations. Overall, Honda outsold all other brands with 1,992 bikes put on the road, followed by Yamaha with 1,295 registrations and, not too far behind, Triumph with 1,282 new machines hitting the tarmac.
Overall, scooter and motorcycle retailers are optimistic that they are in a good position to benefit from the gradual return to work as lockdown measures continue to ease. However, businesses remain cautious as they are aware more challenging times may lie ahead.
