UK Motorcycles Sales | Supply chain issues bite in May, Royal Enfield surges

Sales for motorcycles in the UK suffered a downturn during May 2022 as the knock-on effect of supply chain issues continues to hamper availability.

Following a run of buoyant months at the start of 2022 - the first since 2019 to have so far avoided any lockdown measures as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic - the industry is instead facing a new challenge as a backlog of certain parts means only a trickle of models are entering the country to be delivered to customers.

In what is a bumper month for motorcycle sales as customers get their orders in before the summer period, 11,930 PTWs (powered two wheelers) were shifted in May 2022, down 11% from 13,398 units.

Naked and Adventure segments suffered the biggest year-on-year slides, but sales were noticeably up in the Touring and Sports categories.

While availability problems - stemming from the high demand for semi-conducting materials - are a trend that manufacturers have warned will linger long into 2023, sales of motorcycles in the UK over the first five months of the year remains strong, with a sizeable 19% uplift compared with the same period in 2021.

The UK’s biggest selling motorcycles in May 2022

Honda consolidated its status as the UK’s best-selling manufacturer with a comfortable lead of Yamaha to the tune of 2,084 units versus its Japanese rival’s 1,508, while Triumph continued its strong year thanks predominantly to the ongoing success of its Trident 660 mid-capacity roadster.

BMW sits fourth on the sales charts, ahead of Royal Enfield, which continued its upward march courtesy of the sustained performance of its Meteor 350 and Interceptor 650 models, plus the recently-launched 350 Classic.

It allowed the Indian firm to out-sell Lexmoto, Kawasaki, KTM and Suzuki, while Ducati also squeezed back into the top ten in May.

The Yamaha NMAX 125 held firm as the UK’s best-selling PTW overall, ahead of the Honda CB125 M and Royal Enfield Meteor 350, while the Suzuki GSX-S1000 was another notable standout for the month.