The economic importance of motorcycles in Europe

A research by Oxford Economics highlights the economic and mobility benefits of two-wheelers in Europe.

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The safe ride to the future 2.0

The motorcycle industry’s commitment to road safety. This document showcases some of the industry’s most important initiatives in the area of motorcycle safety.

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Motorcycle training

The European Motorcycle Training Quality Label is a scheme that helps motorcyclists to clearly and easily identify the best post-license training programmes in Europe

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Competitiveness

ACEM members support a European stable regulatory framework that fosters growth, jobs and investment in the L-category industry

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Urban Mobility

L-category vehicles save time and money for commuters, increase urban traffic fluidity and reduce congestion

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Environment

L-category vehicles sold in the EU comply with strict pollutant emission limits. Also, they have a limited environmental impact

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International trade

Together with a more vibrant domestic market, exports will help the industry to grow and to create new jobs in the EU

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Road safety

The industry has achieved high safety levels for existing products and continues to bring advanced and innovative vehicles to the market

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ACEM news
Job opening at ACEM: Communications Officer (Junior position)
13 Mar 2024

ACEM is seeking a Junior Communications Officer specialised in Social Media and Events Coordination to join our young and small team in Brussels. Our future colleague will work to achieve the following goals:

  1. Raise the digital profile of the organisation;
  2. Gain visibility towards EU institutions, relevant stakeholders and citizens;
  3. Position L-category vehicles as a key element for mobility in cities and rural areas.

 

About ACEM

The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) is a dynamic organisation representing manufacturers of mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles (L-category vehicles) in Europe. We are committed to promote a more efficient mobility, cleaner environment and safer driving through the use of our vehicles.

ACEM members include 17 manufacturing companies and 19 national industry associations in 14 different European countries. ACEM works closely with the EU institutions, as well as with a wide range of stakeholders, in different policy-areas. These include type-approval of L-category vehicles, environmental legislation, road safety and transport policies and international trade.

 

Main responsibilities

Social media

  • Develop and execute social media plans and digital communication campaigns aligned with ACEM objectives included in our VISION2030+.
  • Create engaging content for our current social media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn) and future channels (Instagram).
  • Manage all social media channels, including developing editorial content (videos, visuals, stories, statistics and educational), scheduling posts, responding to comments and messages, and maintaining a consistent voice.
  • Preparation of articles and briefings deepening into specific items in mobility (safety, urban, environment, climate, tourism, etc).
  • Collaborate with brands and national associations to integrate social media strategies into overall communication initiatives.
  • Maximize impact of social media through SEOs strategies, networking with media and sectoral influencers, geotargeting posts and messages.
  • Measure and report on the performance of previous actions by using relevant metrics and analytics to identity profiles, topics and lessons learnt.

 

Event management

  • Plan, organize, and coordinate events, conferences and workshops, including venue selection, budget management, negotiations with providers, and logistics coordination.
  • Develop event concepts, themes, and agendas reflecting ACEM's goals and target audience.
  • Oversee all aspects of event execution, including participant registration, catering, audiovisual setup, and on-site coordination.
  • Measure impact of event and participant experience, report lessons learnt, and opportunities for improvement.

Based in the Brussels office, the function will report directly to the EU Affairs and Communications Manager.

 

Desired Profile

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills (i.e. English) with ability to develop stories, articles and other content with a keen eye for detail and creativity.
  • Knowledge of other European languages is a plus.
  • Proven experience in social media management and event coordination, preferably in a similar role or sector.
  • Proficiency in using social media management tools and analytics platforms.
  • Hands-on experience with website management (WordPress).
  • Ability to work within a small and multicultural team, based in Brussels.
  • Multitasking, problem-solving skills and willingness for new challenges.
  • Knowledge of SEO, and digital advertising is desirable.
  • Experience in graphic design, video and other multimedia content creation and editing, is a plus.

 

Experience

  • Degree in Communications, Marketing, or related field.
  • 0-2 years’ experience in digital communication teams, event management or similar position.  

 

Benefits

  • Possibility to develop a career in a sector driven by dynamism, innovation and passion.
  • Working hand-in-hand with leading brands part of your daily life.
  • Young team and constructive environment willing to support your learning process.
  • Possibility to partially work from home.

 

Application

  • Please send your CVmotivation letter, and filled Annex to
  • Only shortlisted candidates will receive a reply and be invited for an interview
  • Deadline for applications: Monday, 08 April 2024.

 

International Motorcycle Safety Conference in Spain
04 Mar 2024

The conference, organised by ANESDOR and DGT, will bring together road safety experts from different continents on 20-21 March in Zaragoza (Spain).

Public authorities, representatives from industry, leading organisations and NGOs will share experiences, debate policies and exchange ideas to improve driving conditions for motorcycles. Concretely, the first day will offer a global picture of the current framework from global, European and local levels. The second day will present specific sessions on every element of the safe system approach (users, vehicles and infrastructure). ACEM will actively participate by providing the European vision of the sector.

Panellists will present considerable benefits from motorcycles for users and the rest of society, such as affordable mobility, reduced traffic congestion levels, access to jobs and services, as well as important activities such as leisure mobility, sports and tourism.  

In parallel to the technical sessions, participants will enjoy the exhibition "MotoTech 2024: motorcycle safety and sustainability technologies" presenting latest technologies for the motorbikes and its equipment and accesories.

Registration is free of charge. for further information, please visit the website.  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Registrations 2023 in key European markets: motorcycles up, mopeds down
31 Jan 2024

New motorcycle registrations in five of the largest European markets (i.e. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) reached 1.049.898 units at the end of 2023. This represents an increase of approximately 10.5% compared to the same period in 2022 (950,437 units).

Motorcycle registration volumes significantly increase in Italy (320,186 units, +18% year-on-year) and Spain (201,115 units, +13.6%). Germany (213,801 units, +7.2%) and France (206,731 units, +6.9%) also showed an upward trend, whilst volumes remained broadly stable in UK (108,065 units, -1.2%).

Moped registrations reached a total volume of 193,145 units in the six European moped markets monitored by ACEM (i.e. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). This registration volume represents a reduction of 24.5% in comparison to last year (255.909 units). The reduction is peaking in the Netherlands (34.027 units, -45.1%) and Germany (17.627 units, -40.5%), followed by France (75.426 units, -19.1%) and Italy (18.737 units, -13.3%), with one-digit reductions in Belgium (-3.8%) and Spain (-5.2%).

 

Quote:

Commenting on the current situation of the sector, Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General, said:

 “The European Powered Two-Wheeler market continued its overall growth in 2023, albeit with a mixed picture. The long-term growth trend for motorcycles is a reflection of consumers’ preferences both for daily commuting and for leisure. Depending on the National market the drop for mopeds highlights indeed a continued shift to light motorcycles, fluctuations due to rebalancing after strong growth in 2022 or a continued compression due to unfavourable urban mobility and incentives policies”.

 

Documents available to download

ACEM - Statistical press release - January - December 2023 [PDF]
ACEM - Statistical press release - January - December 2023 [XLS]
ACEM - Statistical releases - FAQ [PDF]
ACEM - Statistical releases - Glossary [PDF]

 

Press contact

José Diez
Manager EU Affairs and Communications

 

Note for editors

As of 2020, ACEM statistical releases cover the following:

  • For the motorcycle segment: Italy, France, Germany, Spain and UK. These countries account for about 80% of motorcycle registrations in the EU + UK block.
  • For the moped segment: France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. These countries account for about 80% of moped registrations in the EU + UK block.
  • Moped figures include L1eB vehicles (two-wheel mopeds) and L2e vehicles (three-wheel mopeds). Some countries may also include L1e-A vehicles (powered cycles) depending on their administrative practices.

About ACEM

  • The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) represents manufacturers of mopeds, motorcycles, three-wheelers and quadricycles (L-category vehicles) in Europe.
  • ACEM members include 18 manufacturing companies: BMW Motorrad, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), Ducati Motor holding, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, KYMCO, MV Agusta, Peugeot Scooters, Piaggio, Polaris Industries, Qooder, Royal Enfield, Suzuki, Triumph Motorcycles, Yamaha and Zero Motorcycles.
  • ACEM also represents 20 motorcycle industry associations in 17 different European countries. About 300,000 jobs depend on the L-category industry in Europe. There are more than 39 million motorcycles and scooters on Europe’s roads (2019 estimate).
European Motorcycle Training Quality Label Holders and academia are bringing motorcycle safety training to the next level
11 Dec 2023

All 36 schools awarded the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label and academia are joining forces to pave the way to a new high-quality training concept to address the most relevant and frequent powered-two wheelers accident scenarios.

Based on scientific accident analysis, the innovative approach will give training experts and scientists the possibility to develop a set of cognitive and riding skills necessary to avoid these hazardous accident scenarios. The aim is to create a level system that clusters these skills in groups of increasing abilities, encouraging motorcyclists to continue developing their personal riding curriculum over time.

This concept will be offered free of charge to all training schools interested in improving the quality of their post-licence courses. To ensure a larger deployment, it will also be shared with bodies planning to set up voluntary motorcycle safety training programmes in countries currently with limited training options.

The level system concept represents a natural evolution of the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label especially thanks to the united endeavours of training experts and academia, namely:  Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich - LMU, Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences - WIVW, Institute for Motorcycle Safety – ifz and Traffic accident research at TU Dresden – VUFO.

The working process will be led by Klaus Schwabe, KTM Riders Academy, the architect of this concept.

The high-quality training concept is expected to be launched by the end of next year.

 

Quotes:

Commenting on the initiative, ACEM Secretary General, Antonio Perlot, said:

“The European Motorcycle Training Quality Label already is an excellent example of how industry players, NGOs, motorcycle trainers and users’ organisations can work together for motorcycle safety. With strong academia involvement we will now take the Label to the next level by providing a self-assessment tool for European riders and a toolbox for motorcycle trainers. The ultimate goal of this initiative is to motivate riders to undergo regular voluntary training and achieve higher level of safety riding performance.”

 

Dr. Sebastian Will, Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences (WIVW) commented:

“From the empirical evidence available, it seems like a significant share of crashes involving motorcyclists could be avoided or at least mitigated from PTW-side. Important cognitive skills, such as “reading the road” properly or anticipating other traffic participants’ behavior alongside necessary motor skills will optimise rider-motorcycle interaction. Having different stakeholders working towards putting these skills together should be very beneficial for rider safety.”

  

Jesper Christensen, Director of the Mobility Commission, FIM added:

"Modern schools offering advanced safety training are nowadays embracing a stronger approach towards cognitive skills and the understanding that accidents involving riders may start ten seconds before the crash occurs. The development of an improved high-quality training concept using a solid academic approach based on real world data under the umbrella of Quality Label is a warmly welcomed step by FIM.”

 

Note for editors:

The European Motorcycle Training Quality Label is a voluntary certification scheme for post-licence safety training programmes run by the German Road Safety Council, the International Motorcycling Federation and the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers.

The main objective of the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label is to inform motorcyclists across the EU about the best training programmes available in their countries and to increase the number of riders undergoing high-quality voluntary training regularly.

There are currently 36 certified programmes in 11 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, with more motorcycle training centres expected to join in 2024.

In 2019 the European Motorcycle Training Quality Label received the Road Safety Charter Award in the category “Voluntary commitments” from the European Commission.

 

For more information, please visit:

https://motorcycle-training-label.eu 

https://roadsafetystrategy.acem.eu/home/the-european-motorcycle-training-quality-label 

 

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Veneta Vassileva, Safety Manager, ACEM

Registrations in key European markets during the nine first months of 2023 show motorcycles on the rise and mopeds reducing
20 Nov 2023

New motorcycle registrations in five of the largest European markets (i.e. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) reached 873,985 units during the first nine months of 2023. This represents an increase of approximately 11.8% compared to the same period in 2022 (781,839 units).

Motorcycle registration volumes significantly increased in Italy (271,552 units, +19.4% year-on-year) and Spain (154,019 units, +13.4%), with Germany (190,490 units, +9.6%) and France (168,118 units, +8.7%) also showing an upward trend. Volumes remained broadly stable in the UK (89,806 units, -0.4%).

Moped registrations reached a total volume of 155,098 units in the six European moped markets monitored by ACEM (i.e. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). This registration volume represents a reduction of 25.0% in comparison to last year (206,927 units). The reduction is widespread in all monitored countries although less so in Belgium (-2.7%) and Spain (-2.8%).

 

Quote

Commenting on the current situation of the sector, Antonio Perlot, ACEM Secretary General, said:

“Strong growth of the European market in the first nine months highlights consumers’ sustained long-term interest in powered two-wheelers, both for daily commuting and for leisure.  Early figures for October confirm the positive trend for motorcycles, with moped volumes partially recovering”.

 

Documents available to download

ACEM - Statistical press release - January - September 2023 [PDF]
ACEM - Statistical press release - January - September 2023 [XLS]
ACEM - Statistical releases - FAQ [PDF]
ACEM - Statistical releases - Glossary [PDF]

 

Press contact

José Diez

Manager EU Affairs and Communications

 

Note for editors

As of 2020, ACEM statistical releases cover the following:

  • For the motorcycle segment: Italy, France, Germany, Spain and UK. These countries account for about 80% of motorcycle registrations in the EU + UK block.
  • For the moped segment: France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. These countries account for about 80% of moped registrations in the EU + UK block.
  • Moped figures include L1eB vehicles (two-wheel mopeds) and L2e vehicles (three-wheel mopeds). Some countries may also include L1e-A vehicles (powered cycles) depending on their administrative practices.

About ACEM

  • The European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (ACEM) represents manufacturers of mopeds, motorcycles, three-wheelers and quadricycles (L-category vehicles) in Europe.
  • ACEM members include 18 manufacturing companies: BMW Motorrad, Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), Ducati Motor holding, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, KYMCO, MV Agusta, Peugeot Scooters, Piaggio, Polaris Industries, Qooder, Royal Enfield, Suzuki, Triumph Motorcycles, Yamaha and Zero Motorcycles.
  • ACEM also represents 20 motorcycle industry associations in 17 different European countries. About 300,000 jobs depend on the L-category industry in Europe. There are more than 39 million motorcycles and scooters on Europe’s roads (2019 estimate).

 

The two-wheeler sector gathers at EICMA in Milan
13 Nov 2023

The 80th edition of the International Exhibition of Two-Wheelers (EICMA) welcomed around 500.000 visitors last week making Milan the world capital of the motorcycle sector with the presence of global brands, public authorities, industry organisations and, above all, passionate riders.

ACEM has actively participated this year by engaging with members and by contributing to external activities in the promotion of motorcycling. Concretely, our Board of Directors gathered to discuss the sector’s approach towards a safer, greener and digital-resilient mobility set on the EU agenda. However, the industry’s main claim is the need to create a more favourable policy framework to avoid losing competitiveness at global level especially when facing emerging countries mainly from Asia.

In parallel, our secretary general Antonio Perlot was invited to address a keynote at the Motorcycle Conference “Riding Future Technologies 8.0” organized by the engineering consultancy Ricardo. Experts from different brands discussed the challenges and trends of alternative fuels in the motorcycle industry including the implications of design and software to ensure the best performance under different environments.

The importance of motorcycles in cities was showcased in the new space dedicated to Urban Mobility. ACEM participated in the roundtable referring to our Vision2030+ that summarises efforts from the manufacturers to provide clean, efficient and affordable solutions for passenger mobility and last-mile logistics. In this sense, ACEM members continue developing innovative vehicles such as mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, tricycles and light quadricycles already present in most of the European cities, or ambitious projects such as the swappable batteries consortium for electric lightweight-category vehicles.

Position on the revision of the Driving License Directive
19 Sep 2023

The European motorcycle manufacturers stress their main concerns on the report presented yesterday at the TRAN Committee by MEP Karima Delli for L-category vehicles (mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles).

Considering the specificities of the sector across Europe, the initial proposal from the European Commission provides a more effective approach on safety and mobility. The document properly matches diverse realities and ensures inclusiveness for all citizens especially in urban areas. It also allows Member States to select the most appropriate licensing system to their national contexts and specific needs.

Ahead of the coming legislative discussions, ACEM urges the co-legislators to align to the EC proposal regarding:

  • Maintaining age requirements
  • Preserving the flexibility of MS in regulating access to the different L-category vehicles
  • Refraining from the concept of setting speed limits in traffic for different license categories

  

Additional documents

ACEM Position Paper

Joint call to stimulate the European automotive industry´s transformation and enhance competitiveness
06 Sep 2023

As the voice of the motorcycle industry in Europe, ACEM joins main stakeholders from the automotive value chain calling on the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to stimulate sectoral transformation and enhance competitiveness.

The sector of two, three and four wheels is firmly committed to shaping the green and digital transition while continuing a constructive dialogue with public authorities. However, the rise of several challenges is putting further pressure on the decarbonisation of transport and undermining the transformation of our industry.

The signatories have prioritised six key actions before the end of the current mandate:

  1. Develop a robust industrial strategy;
  2. Scale up a European zero-emission market and battery value chain;
  3. Ensure a stable and coherent regulatory environment for the sector;
  4. Enhance the skills agenda and Just Transition framework;
  5. Improve transport affordability; and
  6. Ensure a global level playing field.

Future inaction from law makers at this critical moment will undermine the European automotive industry and put at risk employment in a sector that generates more than 13 million EU jobs.

 

Full document here: 

Joint statement

Contact us

European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers

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Brussels Belgium

+32 (0)22 30 97 32

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