January Powered Two-Wheeler Registration Statistics

MCIA today released the January month and year to date new vehicle registration figures for motorcycles, scooters, and other L-category vehicles.  

2023 opens with a 6.8% decline in the market when compared to the previous year.  Whilst this on face value appears to be bad news, January being a relatively low volume month for the sector this level of decline is relatively small. We fully expect a full recovery back to 2022 levels by the end of Quarter 1.

Following the very successful MCIA Member Conference held at the end of January, guest speakers outlined predictions for the UK economy being difficult, where this month has seen the Bank of England raise interest rates again. This of course will place further pressure on household incomes, but as already demonstrated many times previously, this sector we believe will hold up robustly as it has in the past.  

Tony Campbell, CEO of MCIA said, “With many economic factors impacting household finances this year, it’s no surprise the start of 2023 has seen a slight reduction in volumes. Despite this, we continue to predict an optimistic outlook for Q1 but also for the full year. We expect the sector to perform well regardless of the economic uncertainty as our sector provides low cost mobility solutions in addition to a committed customer base.”  

More details on the January registration figures can be found here.

Please credit MCIA when quoting this information.

Notes for Editors:

Changes to the reporting structure now give greater clarity on the mid capacity marketplace, as detailed below: 

OLD                 NEW
126-650cc        126-500CC
651-1000cc       501-750CC
Over 1000cc      751-1000CC
                         1000CC+

The MCIA is the body that represents the UK Powered Light Vehicle (PLV) industry. PLVs can be defined as motorised lightweight scooters, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles, typically with zero or low-emission power.  

Within regulation they are defined L-Category vehicles (Regulation 168/2013), they are an answer to the traffic congestion and air quality challenges created by personal and goods transportation. 

For more information about the work of the MCIA and Powered Light Vehicles, or to interview MCIA CEO, Tony Campbell, please contact Gina Evans at g.evans@mcia.co.uk.