Need a quick hit of motorcycle news, but don't have a lot of time? Don't worry, RideApart has got you. Welcome to Speed Reads, our new roundup of bite-sized stories we thought you might find interesting. We'll skip the long-winded intro and get right to the good stuff.
It's January 2024, so today we have a selection of sales numbers stories for you. Please note that not all manufacturers necessarily publish their numbers at the same time, so we can only present the numbers that have been made public at the time of writing.
BMW Motorrad Celebrates Achieving Its Highest-Ever Sales Volume In Company History In 2023
BMW Motorrad proudly announced global deliveries of 209,257 total motorcycles and scooters to customers throughout 2023. That's 3.1 percent more than the same period in 2022, numbers which the firm says are now its highest sales achievements in company history.
Europe, Asia, and Latin America were major factors in the brand's sales success in 2023. Here are some of the figures recorded, broken down by country.
| Country | BMW Motorrad Sales Numbers 2023 | Percent Increase/Decrease |
| Germany | 24,176 | +0.2 percent |
| France | 21,668 | +2.1 percent |
| Italy | 16,179 | +3.3 percent |
| Spain | 12,716 | +1.7 percent |
| Eastern Europe (considered as a whole region) | 6,000 | +105.4 percent |
| China | 15,832 | +2.8 percent |
| India | 8,768 | +20.4 percent |
| Brazil | 14,106 | +8.1 percent |
| Mexico | 7,088 | +6.8 percent |
What were the best-selling bikes in the BMW lineup for 2023? The R 1250 GS, GS Adventure, and R 1300 GS sold 60,535 units worldwide. Other strong contributors to these monster sales figures include the S 1000 R, S 1000 XR, S 1000 RR, and M 1000 RR. Together, the four cylinder models sold 25,194 units worldwide.
But we also can't forget the F and G series, which together sold 62,834 units. The CE 04, C 400 GT, and C 400 X scooters also increased in sales volume, bumping up to a total of 20,460 units worldwide. That's an increase of 17.9 percent over 2022 volumes, giving BMW further reason to celebrate in its anniversary year.
Royal Enfield Total Sales Rose By 11 Percent In 2023
To cap off December 2023, Royal Enfield and parent company Eicher Motors reported both its monthly and its year-to-date sales figures. Typically, the brand keeps its reporting simple. Categories include models below 350cc, models above 350cc, total sales, and international business (which is both recorded separately and also included in the total sales figures).
In December 2023, Enfield sold 55,401 models at or below 350cc, which is 10 percent fewer bikes than the 61,223 it sold in December 2022. However, the company also sold 7,986 models with engine capacity over 350cc, which represents an 11 percent increase over the 7,177 bikes sold in that category during December 2022.
Internationally, Enfield sold 6,096 bikes in December 2023, which is a 29 percent drop over the 8,579 bikes it sold in December 2022. The total sales for December 2023 was also down slightly, at 63,387 bikes sold. That's a seven percent drop over the 68,400 units sold in December 2022.
However, one month is never the whole story. From April 2023 through December 2023, numbers overall are mostly still positive as compared to the April 2022 through December 2022 time period.
For the year to date, Enfield's sales of 611,947 bikes with engine capacity up to 350cc is still a 13 percent increase over the 540,589 bikes in that category that it sold in 2022. While it's true that the 73,112 bikes with engine capacity over 350cc that it sold in 2023 is a four percent drop over the 75,781 it sold in 2022, its total 2023 year-to-date figure is still 685,059. That's an 11 percent increase in sales year-on-year over the 616,370 total units sold for the same period in 2022.
TVS Motors Reports 25 Percent Sales Growth In December 2023
As TVS Motors plans its expansion into Europe, it's interesting to see how its sales fare along the way. Overall, the company recorded December 2023 sales of 301,898 units, as compared to the 242,012 it sold in December 2022.
Worldwide, it recorded sales of 290,064 two-wheelers in December 2023, an increase of 27 percent over the 227,666 it sold in December 2022. This includes both motorcycles and scooters. That also includes the 11,232 electrics it sold in December 2023, as compared to the 11,071 electrics it sold in December 2022.
Furthermore, TVS also notes that its exports rose by a total of eight percent in December 2023, which surely bodes well for the future.
Suzuki Motorcycle India Sees 24 Percent Sales Growth In December 2023
Suzuki Motorcycle India announced total December 2023 sales of 79,483 motorbikes, which represents an impressive 24 percent growth year-on-year since the same period in 2022. It did not give further details as to which were its best-selling models. However, it did note that it sold 69,025 of those motorbikes domestically within India, in addition to exporting 10,458 to other countries.
Honda Motorcycle And Scooter India Reports 27 Percent Sales Growth Year-On-Year In December 2023
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India recorded total sales of 317,123 two-wheelers in December 2023, which represents a 27 percent increase over the 233,151 units it sold in December 2022. Exports rose an extremely impressive 82 percent to 31,022 units year-on-year. Domestic sales, meanwhile, stuck to a more modest 23 percent in growth, to 286,101 units for the same time period.
Bajaj Auto Records 14.5 Percent Sales Growth In December 2023
Bajaj Auto reported sales of 283,001 two-wheelers in December 2023, which is a 14.5 percent increase over the 247,052 it sold in December 2022. What about numbers year-on-year? So far, yearly sales in December 2023 are up to 2,811,206 as compared to 2,717,434 sold over the same time period in 2022.
Bajaj did not break its numbers down further by model, so we have no way to know how much the introduction of the Triumph Speed 400 may have affected these numbers. Hopefully somewhere further down the line, we'll have additional insight into those numbers to share.
