Traxio: ‘New motorcycle and used speed pedelec markets flourish’

According to mobility federation Traxio, registrations of new motorcycles during the first six months of 2024 increased slightly to 15,542 units (+1.7%)  despite the exceptionally wet weather. Only June was disappointing (-20.2%, 2,907 ex.), maybe because many people thought about their summer holidays rather than buying a new motorcycle.

Flanders is growing by +3.5% and remains the largest region with 62.1% of our country’s total sales of new motorcycles. Wallonia accounts for 31.7% (-1.4%) and Brussels 6.2% (-0.1%).

Among the provinces, Flemish Brabant continues to grow strongly (+13.0%) but still has to let Antwerp (+2.0%) and East Flanders (-3.7%) take precedence. Hainaut now becomes the first Walloon province before Liège.

Heavy losers, vigorous growers

During the first half of the year, the new motorcycle market had some heavy losers, such as Piaggio (-15.6%) and KTM (-12.5%), but also some vigorous growers, including Yamaha (+21.4%) and Kawasaki (+ 18.1%). Leader Honda rose slightly by +2.5%, but BMW’s decline of -5.6% is striking. Traxio says this can be attributed to a limited supply of the new 900 and 1300 models rather than a reduced interest in the brand.

The showrooms generally remained pretty busy, except for June. Fewer kilometers were driven due to the bad weather, so fewer repairs were needed, but as soon as the sun comes out, the number of requests for maintenance and repairs will flow in, and waiting times will increase.”

Flanders, Brussels, and Wallonia

The second-hand market performed +3.1% better in the first half than last year, but compared to 2022, it has fallen by 24.6% — a difference of just over 10,000 motorcycles. June was also a bad month for used vehicles, dropping to -19.3% (2023) or -33.5% (2022). This is due to a drastically lower number of registrations and the higher export and technical inspection of used motorcycles.

Flanders remains the largest second-hand market until June 2024 (60.0% cumulative) and gained +5.0% compared to the first quarter of 2023. Brussels (+1.3%) and Wallonia (+0.1%) progress slightly less.

Electric scooters for the city

Traxio sees increases in several provinces, from a modest +0.3% in Limburg and Hainaut to a strong +10.4% in Walloon Brabant. The strongest climbers are in the category of +1,001 cc. BMW takes the lead; KTM is also doing well in the category with the larger cylinder capacities. Suzuki is rising sharply in the light classes while the other Japanese brands remain more or less status quo.

Electric motorcycle sales remain low, but electric scooters are not doing badly in urban environments.

Speed pedelecs

The wet weather conditions of the past six months also affected the speed pedelec market. “In the first six months of 2024, registrations of new speed pedelecs were much lower than in 2023 (7,073 units vs. 8,414, or -15.9%), ” explains Filip Rylant, spokesperson for Traxio. “The decline of the first five months continues strongly in June : -24.4% (375 units less).”

2022 was a record year for registrations of new speed pedelecs. 2023 was the second-best year ever for new speed pedelecs and the record year for second-hand fast bikes. In 2023, registrations decreased (-10,9%). Still, figures amounted to 15,672 for new speed pedelec registrations, making last year the second-best ever.

Still, the second-hand speed pedelec market did very well. In the first half of the year, 3,964 second-hand SPs were already registered in Belgium, which is 23.9% more than in 2023 (3,199 units) and 46.6% more than in 2022 (2,704 units).

Per province

The figures per province show a uniform decline for new speed pedelecs, while second-hand is growing strongly everywhere. In 2023, second-hand speed pedelecs still accounted for 27.5% of the market, while new vehicles accounted for 72.5%. In 2024, second-hand will increase to 35.9%, compared to 64.1% for new.

In the first six months, almost two in three new speed pedelecs (65%) were registered by non-private individuals, mainly through leasing. Nearly half (50.3%) of the registrations come from leasing, 34.9% from private individuals, and 14.7% from business customers.

The market for used speed pedelecs continues to grow exponentially to 739 (+9.2%) units. Over the first six months of 2024, the number of registrations of second-hand speed pedelecs increased by +23.9% compared to the same period in 2023, and by +46.6% compared to 2022. Private individuals dominate the second-hand market with a market share of 93.7%, followed by companies with 4.9%. Leasing represents only 1.4% here.

Flemish phenomenon

In 2024, new and second-hand speed pedelecs will remain predominantly Flemish. Flanders accounts for 94.7% (new, 6,700 units) and 91.7% (used, 3,631 units) of the market, respectively.

All Flemish and Walloon provinces record a decrease in new speed pedelecs compared to 2023. On the other hand, all provinces show a significant growth in second-hand speed pedelecs during the first half of 2024 compared to 2023.