News

A total of 534,744 powered-two and three-wheelers were registered during the first five months of 2016 in the EU. This represents an increase of 5.5% compared to the 507,106 vehicles registered during the same period of 2015.

Registrations performed positively in key European markets, including Italy (103,542 units, +16.8%), Spain (61,696 units, +12.3%), UK (51,872 units, +8.8%), Germany (94,873 units, +2%) and France (99,596 units, +0.5%).

Motorcycle registrations

Cumulative motorcycle registrations grew by 8.5% during the first five months of 2016 on a year-on year basis. A total of 416,938 motorcycles were registered between January and May 2016, against 384,366 during the same period of 2015. Year-on-year motorcycle registrations increased in the largest European markets, including Italy (93,730 units, 18.5%), Spain (55,768 units, +13.1%), UK (48,571 units, +8.5%), Germany (81,206 units, +3%) and France (69,607 units, +1.4%).

Moped registrations

A total of 117,806 mopeds were registered during the first five months of 2016 in the EU, whilst 122,740 had been registered during the same period of 2015. This represents a decrease of 4%. Moped registrations increased in the Netherlands (25,803 units, +3.2%) and Italy (9,812 units, +2.6%). They decreased in France (29,989 units, -1.4%), Germany (13,667 units, -3.4%) and Poland (8,925 units, -27.2%).

Documents available to download

ACEM - Statistical data - May 2016 (xls)

ACEM - Statistical press release - May 2016 (pdf)

Press contact

For further information or to receive future market updates, news or press releases please contact:

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM communications officer

E. , T. +32 (0) 22 30 97 32

A total of 408,362 powered-two and three-wheelers were registered during the first four months of 2016 in the EU.

This represents an increase of 4.7% compared to the 390,179 vehicles registered during the same period of 2015 Registrations performed positively in most key markets, including Italy (75,699 units, 16.7%), Spain (46,240 units, +14.5%), UK (39,738 units, +8.8%) and Germany (73,688 units, +0.6%). They decreased in France (75,444 units, -0.1%). 

Motorcycle registrations

Cumulative motorcycle registrations grew by 7.9% during the first four months of 2016 on a year-on year basis. A total of 321,085 motorcycles were registered between January and April 2016, against 297,577 during the same period of 2015.Year-on-year motorcycle registrations increased in most key European markets, including Italy (68,482 units, 18.8%), Spain (41,753 units, +15.9%), the UK (37,134 units, +9.9%), Germany (62,980 units, +1.2%) and France (52,465 units, +0.4%).

Moped registrations

A total of 87,277 mopeds were registered during the first four months of 2016 in the EU, whilst 92,602 had been registered during the same period of 2015. This represents a decrease of 5.8%. Moped registrations increased in the Netherlands (18,821 units, +0.8%) but decreased in Italy (7,217 units, 0.3%), France (22,979 units, -1.1%), Germany (10,688 units, -2.9%) and Poland (5,815 units, -32.8%).

Documents available to download

Press contact

For further information or to receive future market updates, news or press releases please contact:

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM communications officer

E.  , T. +32 (0) 22 30 97 32

The International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association, IMMA, has elected yesterday Mr Stephan Schaller as its new President. 

The decision was taken by IMMA’s General Assembly, hosted by the Federation of Asian Motorcycle Industries (FAMI) and the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI).

Mr Schaller, President of BMW Motorrad, who currently serves as President of the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM), will hold the IMMA Presidency for a period of two years, from May 2016 to May 2018. He succeeds Mr Paul Jones from the United States Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (USMMA), who secured the IMMA Presidency from May 2014 to May 2016.

A mechanical engineer by training, Mr Stephan Schaller has more than 30 years of experience in the automotive sector. Since 2012, he is the President of BMW Motorrad, the motorcycle division of BMW Group, and serves as ACEM President since 2013. He was also Vice-president of IMMA between May 2015 and May 2016.

Upon accepting the appointment Mr Stephan Schaller said:

“It is a privilege and an honour to take over the IMMA Presidency. On behalf of all members, I thank Paul Jones for his leadership as President over the last two years.”

“During my mandate, I will continue strengthening IMMA’s role as the trusted global voice of motorcycle manufacturers.”

About the International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA).

IMMA represents the combined skills and interests of the powered two- and three-wheelers manufacturing industry at the global level. IMMA members include regional and national industry associations representing the industry in Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, South-East Asia and the United States. 

About the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM).

ACEM is the professional body representing the interests of the L-category vehicle industry in Europe (i.e. mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles, quadricycles). ACEM members include 15 manufacturing companies as well as 17 national associations based in 14 European countries. About 156,300 jobs in the EU depend on the L-category industry.

Documents available to download

The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers has further increased its representation of the motorcycle industry with the addition of two new guest members: Royal Enfield and Kwang Yang Motor Company (KYMCO). 

The decision was approved by unanimity at the last ACEM’s General Assembly on 7 April 2016.

KYMCO is a Taiwanese company that manufactures scooters, motorcycles, and all-terrain vehicles for worldwide distribution. Its headquarters and factory are located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It produced 516,200 units in 2014 including two-wheelers and all-terrain vehicles.

ROYAL ENFIELD is an Indian motorcycle manufacturing company with factories in Chennai, India. Originally a British motorcycle company, it is now a subsidiary of Eicher Motors Limited, an Indian automaker. ROYAL ENFIELD specialises in the mid-size motorcycle market (250cc to 650 cc) and manufactured close to 450,000 units in 2015.

With the addition of these two companies, which are present in the European market, ACEM membership will include a total of 15 manufacturing members, 3 guest manufacturing members and 17 national associations.

A total of 131,693 powered-two and three-wheelers were registered during the first two months of 2016 in the EU. This represents an increase of 13.4% compared to the 116,087 vehicles registered during the same period of 2016.

Registrations performed positively in Italy (27,933 units, +26%), Spain (19,665 units, +24.4%), UK (10,669 units, +18.3%) and Germany (16,105 units, +11.2%).

Motorcycle registrations

Cumulative motorcycle registrations grew by 18.9% during the first two months of 2016 on a year-on year basis. A total of 99,363 motorcycles were registered between January and February 2016, against 83,573 during the same period of 2015. Year-on-year motorcycle registrations increased in most key European markets, including Italy (24,954 units, 29.5%), Spain (17,763 units, +29.1%), UK (9,641 units, 20.5%), Germany (12,709 units, +11%) and France (18,547 units, +4.4%).

Moped registrations

A total of 32,330 mopeds were registered during the first two months of 2016 in the EU, whilst 32,514 had been registered during the same period of 2015. This represents a decrease of 0.6%. Registrations increased in some of the key markets such as Germany (+11.7%, 3,396 units), Netherlands (7,813 units, +7.2%) and Italy (2,979 units, +2.3%). They decreased Spain (1,902 units, -7.1%) and France (9,687 units, -1.3%).

Documents available to download

Press contacts

For further information or to receive future market updates, news or press releases please contact:

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM Communications Officer

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  +32 496 52 65 17

The members of the i_HeERO project have launched an online survey to gain a better understanding of riders’ expectations of eCall devices for powered-two wheelers and the nature of accident scenarios across Europe.

The i_HeERO survey will run until end of May 2016. Its results will help researchers to gain insights into what motorcycle and scooter riders understand by a potential eCall solution for powered-two wheelers, as well as to understand certain factors about powered-two wheeler users’ accident experiences.

No personal data will be collected in the process and all of the answers will be kept confidential.

The survey is available at http://iheero.hreconnect.eu/s/A3C01/  

What are eCall devices?

eCall technology allows for an emergency call to be made, either automatically or manually, from a crashed vehicle immediately after a road collision has occurred.

A recently published European Regulation (Regulation 2015/758) makes eCall devices mandatory in cars in Europe as of April 2018.

About the i_HeERO research project

The i_HeERO project is the 3rd large-scale project in the series supported by the European Commission.

The HeERO projects are to lead to the implementation of an emergency call solution to improve road safety in Europe. To learn more about IHEERO please click here.

Should you be interested in receving additional information about the i_HeERO project or the survey, please contact Shaddy Riaz (Honda Motorcycles Europe, Senior Project Researcher) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

New motorcycle and moped registrations increased by 5.1% in 2015 compared to the same period last year to reach 1,213,748, according to figures released today by ACEM, the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers.

The country where with more vehicles registered was France (242,885 vehicles, -3.4%), followed by Italy (196,653 vehicles, +6.4%), Germany (184,299, +4.8%), Spain (148,488 units, +17.6%) and the UK (114,811, +12.8%). 

Strong growth in the motorcycle segment across Europe

Motorcycle registrations grew by 10.3% during 2015 compared to 2014. Italy was the country where most motorcycles were registered: 172,033 (+9.9%), followed by France (153,239 vehicles, -0.1%) and Germany (151,661, +7.1%).

The fourth and fifth place are for countries that attained double digit growth: Spain (132,532 vehicles, 18.9%) and the UK (105,417 vehicles, +15.6%). 

Moped registrations continue to decline in most European markets

The moped segment continued to decrease through 2015. A total of 328,305 mopeds were registered across the European Union (-6.7% on a year-on-year basis).

The largest market for mopeds were France (89,646 mopeds, -8.7%), the Netherlands (65,932 mopeds, +4.9%), Germany (32,638 mopeds, -4.6%), Poland (30,430 mopeds, -25.3%), and Italy (24,620 mopeds, -13.2%). Spain was the only large European market in which moped registrations increased in 2015: 15,956 units (+7.8%).

Comments from ACEM Secretary General

Commenting on the recent evolution of the European motorcycle and moped market ACEM Secretary General Antonio Perlot said:

“We will still need to wait until July 2016 to assess whether this is a real recovery, but the sector seems to have regained momentum in 2015. This was a very positive year for the industry, with registrations increasing in most European countries, particularly in large markets like Italy, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom”.

“In any case, the sector still faces a delicate situation in Europe. In 2015 about 1.21 million vehicles were registered. That is still less than half the registration levels we saw before the economic crisis (2.43 million units in 2007).”

“This industry needs supportive policies that promote job creation in the manufacturing sector as well as vehicle exports to third countries”.

Documents available to download

Press contacts

For further information or to receive future market updates, news or press releases please contact:

Manuel Ordonez de Barraicua. ACEM Communications Officer

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

+32 496 52 65 17

A total of 1,151,657 powered-two and three-wheelers were registered during the first eleven months of 2015 in the EU.

This represents an increase of 4.4% compared to the 1,102,996 vehicles registered during the same period of 2014.

Registrations performed positively in Spain (138,590 units, +16.7%), the UK (109,542 units, +12.7%), Italy (190,405 units, 6.2%), and Germany (176,711 units, +3.0%). They decreased in France (227,817 units, -4.2%).

Motorcycle registrations

Cumulative motorcycle registrations grew by 9.3% during the first eleven months of 2015 on a year-on year basis. A total of 846,087 motorcycles were registered between January and November 2015, against 774,387 during the same period of 2014.

Year-on-year motorcycle registrations increased in most key European markets, namely Spain (124,020 units, +18.0%), the UK (100,775 units, +15.6%), Italy (167,035 units, +9.8%), Germany (146,862 units, +6.1%).

Motorcycle registrations decreased in France (145,303 units, -0.8%).

Moped registrations

A total of 305,570 mopeds were registered during the first eleven months of 2015 in the EU, whilst 328,609 had been registered during the same period of 2014.

This represents a decrease of 7.0%. Registrations increased in Spain (14,570, +6.2%), although they decreased in Germany (29,849 units, -10.0%), France (82,514 units, -9.5%), the UK (8,767 units, -12.7%), and Italy (23,370 units, -14.1%).

Pan European Networks interviewed ACEM and BMW Motorrad President Stephan Schaller to get his views on the outlook for the motorcycle industry.

The interview, published in the November 2015 edition of Pan European networks, focuses on recent developments in the L-category industry, how European research can help the industry to develop new vehicle concepts, and the current situation of the European market for mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles.

Michael Brennan, the editor of Pan European Networks, and Mr Schaller also discussed the importance of the European Commission's international trade agenda for the industry, as well as private and public cooperation in other policy areas.

To read the full interview, please click here...

Documents available to download

The Skegness Annual Beach Race, which takes place on 7 and 8 November, is helping to extend the tourist season, according to a report by East Lindsey District Council. Last year’s race attracted over 20,000 spectators – the largest number to date.

The event is popular with both out of town visitors and local residents, injecting nearly 750,000 pounds into the local economy.

The race is organised by the Amateur Motorcycle Association (AMCA), a not for profit organisation which exists to promote grass roots participation in off-road motorcycle sport, particularly motocross. 

What local authorities think

Commenting on the event, Councillor Adam Grist, now Portfolio Holder for Market Towns and Rural Economy, said:

“Since the race first came to Skegness in 2010, AMCA has helped to provide a huge boost to the town at a traditionally quieter time of year – last year with upwards of 20,000 people attending the two day event.

“This provides an increased footfall in the town which supports local businesses, amenities and attractions with people staying, eating and shopping locally".

Town Manager Lisa Collins explained it was particularly helpful to seaside traders: “(The Race) is helping Skegness extend its traditional visitor season: it allows traders to remain open for an extra weekend, in particular the traditional seaside traders on the seafront”.

“It is key to the town’s future that we retain such events to actively promote Skegness as an all year round visitor destination.” 

Empowering local authorities to organise motor sport events

UK Government research informed last year’s decision to pass legislation making it easier for local authorities to stage their own motorsport events.

The UK Government press release which announced the introduction of new legislation included this statement from Roads Minister Robert Goodwill:

“Motor sport events are great fun, extremely popular and make a valuable contribution to the economy. Allowing local authorities to organise carefully managed motor sports events is great news for the industry and will potentially benefit local communities around Great Britain.”

More information

You can find out more about the beach race here: http://amca.uk.com/beach-racing/skegness-beach-race 

To learn more about MCIA and AMCA please contact Stevie Muir on +44 (0) 79 89 37 85 97 or email her at