France Motorcycle Market rebounds in 2026 start. the first four months of the 2026 have finally been positive with sales reaching 76.197 units, up 9.3% and France was back the third largest EU market, behind Italy and Spain
Motorcycles Industry Trend and Perspectives
Following a series of negative years, ended with a dramatic -20.8% reported in 2025, the motorcycles market started the 2026 with a robust recovery, giving hopes for the start of a new trend.
Indeed, the market ended last year with aan annual volume of 222.456, which was over 23% lower than in 2019. Just few countries has not recovered the pre-covid level, while most of the other European markets have overtaken that level hitting new records.
The French market has been further penalised by restrictive policies in major cities such as Paris and Lyon, which limit two-wheeler circulation in urban centres. This has been compounded by a sluggish economic environment and the absence of a coherent national strategy to support the development and adoption of electric motorcycles and scooters.
The market is expected to recover in 2026, while the economic effects of the war in the middle-east could hit the sector again.
However, the first four months of the 2026 have finally been positive with sales reaching 76.197 units, up 9.3% and France was back the third largest EU market, behind Italy and Spain
The recovery did not involved the EV segment, which further declined (-13.5%), although April figures were positive and we could expect some effects from fuel price jump up.
Market Leaders and Performance
Among manufacturers, Honda confirmed the market leadership, although sales declined 7.1% after having limited the 2025 decline to -1.1%.
The rival Yamaha, gained 3.1%, due to the very weak performance last year and was second, but with a large gap from the leader.
In third place BMW lost 3.7%, similar to the Kawasaki performance in fourth place (-2.2% and Triumph in fifth (-2.6%).
The local manufacturer Peugeot Motorcycles is recovering (+12.9%) while the real event is happening just behind with the Chinese manufacturers boom.
In sixth place there is CF Moto, up a huge 124.5% overtaking historical brands like Piaggio (+0.5%), Suzuki (+42.1%), KTM (+70.6%) and Aprilia (+49.7%).
In 12th place the second booming Chinese, Voge, improved 112.0% year-on-year.
