New motorcycle registrations: Record of the century 2024
2024 marked a record year with 251,169 new registrations, the most since 2000. Almost all brands grew because the new emissions standard led to price reductions.
![Suzuki_GSX-8S](https://heise.cloudimg.io/width/610/q85.png-lossy-85.webp-lossy-85.foil1/_www-heise-de_/imgs/18/4/7/8/9/2/6/6/Suzuki_GSX-8S_Gach-562cffd33e42ed56.jpeg)
The 2024 successful Suzuki GSX-8S (test)
(Image: Ingo Gach)
- Ingo Gach
2024 was a good year for the majority of the motorcycle industry in Germany. With 152,704 new registrations, motorcycles with a displacement of over 125 cm3 were 21.5 percent up on the previous year. All classes (motorcycles, light motorcycles, scooters, and light scooters) combined even set a new record for this century: 251,169 new registrations – an increase of 13.1 percent. But as always with a lot of light, there were also shadows. At the beginning of 2024, sales started at roughly the same level as the previous year, then initially slumped in the summer before culminating in a veritable hype at the end of the year. The reason for this was the Euro 5+ emissions standard that will apply from 2025. New motorcycles with the Euro 5 standard that were still at dealerships were sold at high discounts in November and December or were quickly registered to the company by dealers, because otherwise they would no longer have received a license plate in 2025.
Bargain paradise
It was a paradise for bargain hunters, who were able to get big discounts on their dream motorcycle without having to haggle. The KTM, Husqvarna and Gasgas dealers, which all belong to KTM AG, were hit particularly hard. They had to file for insolvency on their own in November. The Austrian manufacturer had ludicrously overproduced, so that by the end of 2024 a staggering 235,000 motorcycles had accumulated worldwide, including models from 2023 and even 2022. The KTM dealers offered the models, which were standing like lead, at discounts of up to 25 percent. However, other brands also provided their remaining models with low prices at the end of the year, which led to a situation where almost all manufacturers performed better than in the previous year.
BMW was once again in the lead
We took a close look at the ten best-selling brands and considered the 50 most registered motorcycles. BMW once again dominated the market in the displacement class over 125 cm3 with 28,581 new registrations, ahead of Honda with 21,431, followed by KTM with 15,559. Kawasaki took fourth place with 15,460 new registrations and Yamaha managed 12,296, followed by Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Ducati. Suzuki remained in ninth place, despite an upward trend, followed by Husqvarna.
Honda most successful overall
Looking at the new registrations of all motorcycle classes, however, the list for 2024 has changed significantly. The victory then goes to Honda, with 36,870 new registrations, followed by BMW with 30,477 units and Yamaha with 20,854, followed by KTM with 17,245 units. Vespa, a brand that exclusively manufactures scooters, impressed in fifth place with 18,105 new registrations. With the Vespa GTS 300 Super, the Italian cult brand was also the motorcycle with the most new registrations in Germany: the large Vespa was registered 7,385 times, putting it ahead of the BMW R 1300 GS touring enduro with 7,174 new registrations, followed by Kawasaki with 17,245 new registrations and then Suzuki in seventh place with 11,353 units. Eighth place went to Aprilia, which registered 5,457 new scooters and light motorcycles, but only 3,277 large motorcycles and therefore only took eleventh place in the class over 125 cm3.
The best-selling Vespa in the test
Fahrbericht Vespa GTS 300: Die Ewige
BMW remained dominant in Germany
It is no surprise that BMW was able to defend its leading position in the domestic motorcycle market in 2024. With 28,581 new registrations, the Bavarian brand was up an impressive 19.2 percent on the previous year and achieved a market share of 18.7 percent. BMW owed this success above all to its bestseller, the big boxer enduro R 1300 GS, which achieved 7,174 new registrations. Curiously, the BMW R 1250 GS Adventure still achieved an impressive 2631 new registrations with its predecessor engine, putting it in fourth place in Germany. The BMW F 900 R also enjoyed great popularity, moving up to ninth place with 2205 new registrations, an increase of 567 compared to the previous year.
(Image: BMW)
The naked bike with in-line two-cylinder benefited from its low list price of, 9400 euros. The BMW S 1000 RR superbike continued to be successful, taking 21st place with, 1323 new registrations and thus remaining by far the best-selling superbike in Germany. The cross-over bike BMW F 900 XR (test) in 24th place also continued to do very well with, 1175 new registrations, 30 units better than the new touring enduro BMW F 900 GS (test) in 28th place. The smaller F 800 GS, although almost 3000 Euro cheaper, achieved only 979 new registrations and ranked 38th. However, many new BMW registrations were made at dealerships, e.g., the share of the 1105 newly registered G 310 R (32nd place) was around 60 percent.
Honda was the only manufacturer to lose ground
With 21,431 new registrations, Honda was the only manufacturer in the top ten in the over 125 cm3 class to fare worse in 2024 than in the previous year, with a drop of 3.3 percent. However, the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer clearly maintained its second place on the German market. The bestseller remained the affordable and stylish CB 750 Hornet in third place with, 2935 new registrations. The popular XL 750 Transalp touring enduro (test) with the same in-line two-cylinder engine as the Hornet came in just two places behind with, 2581 new registrations.
(Image: Honda)
These two models alone accounted for around a quarter of all new Honda registrations. The CBR 650 R in twelfth place with 1911 new registrations was the most successful sports bike with full fairing. Honda's large CRF 1100 Africa Twin touring enduro remained in 16th place with 2024 new registrations, but performed significantly better than in the previous year with 1591 new registrations. In contrast, the small cruiser CMX 500 Rebel fell out of favor with customers, dropping by around 25 percent to 1500 new registrations and from fifth place to 17th. The larger CMX 1100 Rebel also only managed rank 30 with 1133 new registrations, while the aged mid-range model NC 750 (test) still managed 1027 new registrations. The light enduro Honda CRF 300 (test) made a significant leap in the “L” and “Rally” versions with, 1004 units and achieved 32nd place.
KTM moved up to third place
KTM could actually be pleased with third place on the German market if the bronze medal had not been bought at a high price. Due to the insane overproduction, dealers had to push many models onto the market through a brutal discount battle. This explains the huge jump of 34 percent to 15,559 new registrations, with, 3275 new registrations in December alone. The Supermoto 690 SMC-R remained the undisputed bestseller in the KTM range in seventh place, with 2285 new registrations thanks to hefty discounts, an increase of 749 units.
(Image: KTM)
The picture was similar for the 790 Duke, with the mid-range naked bike increasing considerably to twelfth place with 1977 units. Perhaps the most glaring example of the plight of KTM dealers was the KTM 1290 Super Duke R, which was officially no longer in the range in 2024 and yet still managed 1916 new registrations, compared to just 1173 the year before. Its successor, the KTM 1390 Super Duke R, did not even appear in the top 50. A clear case of in-house cannibalization because there were still plenty of brand-new 1290s from 2023, some of which were offered for less than 15,000 euros, while the 1390 only started at 21,499 euros. The 300 EXC two-stroke sports enduro, which is much sought-after for competitions, was registered, 1116 times. The formerly very popular 390 Duke, on the other hand, experienced a shocking decline, slipping from 17th to 47th place with 911 new registrations.
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Kawasaki continued to grow
Even though Kawasaki lost one place on the German market in 2024, the Japanese brand was satisfied with fourth place. The brand achieved 15,460 new registrations –, a remarkable increase of 20.2 percent. It was largely able to rely on its best-selling Z 900, with the Streetfighter increasing by almost 500 new registrations to 4,126 and remaining in second place as in the previous year.
(Image: Kawasaki)
The year was not so optimal for the Z 650, which slipped from fourth to tenth place by almost 600 units with, 2173 new registrations. Then no Kawasaki appeared in the ranking for a long time, with the charming retro bike Kawasaki Z 900 RS (test) only appearing in 22nd place with 1289 units. The only other Kawasaki in the top 50 was the Ninja 650 in position 34 with 1063 units. However, Kawasaki cannot sit back and relax, as it is risky in the long term to achieve around 40 percent of its new registrations with just two models.
Yamaha made gains
Yamaha also grew on the German market in 2024, by 20.6 percent. However, the brand remained in fifth place with 12,296 new registrations. The mid-range naked bike MT-07 was once again the bestseller in sixth place with, 2513 new registrations, over 500 more than in the previous year. It was closely followed by the Ténéré 700 touring enduro in eighth place with, 2255 new registrations, an increase of over 600 units. The MT-09 with its magnificent three-cylinder came in 15th place with 1866 new license plates, also a significant increase. The stylish R7 sports bike enjoyed increased popularity, advancing to a respectable 25th place with 1169 new registrations, immediately followed by the Tracer 900 with 1169.
(Image: Yamaha)
Harley-Davidson still in the black at the last moment
Harley-Davidson achieved the feat of not having a single model in the top 50 of new registrations in Germany and still coming sixth with 8706 units. None of the US brand's models sold exceptionally well in Germany, but many sold at a similar level. The best-selling models in 2024 were the Street Bob 114, Street Glide, Sport Glide, Fat Boy 114 and the Breakout, all of which remained below 800 new registrations.
(Image: Harley-Davidson)
For a long time, however, sales in 2024 were sluggish for Harley-Davidson, with figures remaining below the previous year's level. In October, Harley-Davidson had only registered, 6085 new bikes, but in the past two months of the year, dealers began to offer significant discounts to sell off the Euro 5 models and were able to increase the number of new registrations by 30 percent. Harley-Davidson thus achieved an overall increase of 19.9 percent in 2024.
Triumph fought its way up
Triumph had improved to seventh place in new registrations in 2024. The British brand increased by 11.9 percent to 6991 new vehicles on the road. Triumph owed this success in particular to its latest model, the retro bike Triumph Scrambler 400 X (test). It achieved, 1025 new registrations and took 33rd place, thanks primarily to its chic looks and affordable price. Curiously, the Scrambler sold around four times as many units as the cheaper Speed 400 model.