Italians Are Choosing Bikes Over Cars In Record Numbers

Four wheels good, two wheels better.

By: Jason Marker

Jun 17, 2022 at 2:34pm ET

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The European motorcycle market has been on a tear lately. Bike sales are up throughout the continent as people turn to motorcycles and scooters to avoid huge fuel costs and get around increasingly congested cities. Just this year, in Q1 2022, European motorcycle sales rose eight percent. In Italy, the results of increased motorcycle and scooter ownership are evident not just in more bike registrations, but in fewer auto registrations.

According to Italian motoring site Moto.IT, the number of new motorcycle registrations rose 42.5 percent from Q1 2017 to Q1 2022. Over that same time period, new car registrations fell by 41 percent. After analyzing data from a site called Segugio.it that offers insurance comparison services in Italy, Moto.IT states that the number of riders claiming that they're using their motorcycle to commute to work increased a whopping 162 percent during that five-year stretch. In addition, the largest growth was found in riders over 44 years old, while the under-35 demographic came in a close second.

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You can find more info on this data and Segugio.it's methodology on Moto.IT. To be fair, it seems half solid and half anecdata—reading the tea leaves, as it were—but the conclusions that Moto.IT reached are pretty interesting.

While it's hard to read the future by analyzing registrations and insurance rates—let's face it, economics is about as reliable a science as meteorology and just as accurate—the trends here are pretty heartening. More people on bikes, whether on the Continent, here in the Colonies, or elsewhere, is good for all of us. More bikes on the road makes us safer and offers riders more options as companies adapt to our wants and needs. Also, using less energy and taking up less space can only help us take the edge off looming climate issues. Here's hoping the trend in increased ridership and bike sales continues.