As pandemic restrictions wind down and people return to their pre-COVID-19 routines, the motorcycle industry is keeping a sharp eye on sales figures. During the lockdowns, two-wheeler sales have boomed with many manufacturers and nations reporting encouraging numbers over the past two years.
While most OEMs brace for a potential sales slowdown, Spain chugged right along in February, 2022, recording a 21.9-percent motorcycle and scooter registration increase compared to the same month in 2021. The recent boost totals 12,422 units sold in the second month of the year. That follows Spain’s monster January, 2022, sales increase (compared to January, 2021), when customers purchased 5,015 motorcycles and and 5,802 scooters.
The January, 2022, totals aren’t as high as the units sold during February, 2022, but the month resulted in a 50-percent increase over the same period in 2021. The Spanish market continued that momentum in February with 6,145 scooters (+25.5 percent) and 5,612 road motorcycles (+25 percent) sold. Not all the news was good though, as off-road motorcycle sales took a minor dive with 646 units moved (-13 percent).
The 21-percent growth matches the sales increase between February, 2019, and February, 2020, which were the last figures recorded before the pandemic. During the first two months of 2022, Spain has already registered 24,005 units (including two-wheelers and light three-wheelers and four-wheelers). Compared to the 17,919 units sold during the same time in 2021, the industry has grown by 34 percent.
Scooters locked out the top seven spots on the best-selling model list, but the Yamaha Tenere 700 led the charge motorcycles. With Yamaha recently announcing the 2022 Tenere 700 World Raid for Europe, hopefully, Team Blue can build on its performance the rest of the year. Just behind the T7, the Yamaha MT-07 and Kawasaki Z900 rounded out the top ten while the BMW R 1250 GS and Honda CB650R squeaked into the top 15 slots. Governments may be easing COVID-19 restrictions, but Spain’s continued performance gives us hope that sales won’t see a dip as a result.
