I find it interesting that so many people express how they ‘believe’ that North American motorcycle manufacturing is superior, yet when it comes to global sales and the direction that North American manufacturers are going, versus where Japanese and Chinese manufacturers are heading, it illustrates a clear problem with that opinion.
Comments like, “I’d never buy a Chinese motorcycle”, are interesting as almost all manufacturers either are, or will be producing some of their products in China, or the orient. Whether Ducati, BMW, KTM or Triumph, all are producing motorcycles in either China, Thailand, Vietnam or Brazil. Obviously Suzuki, Honda and Kawasaki have been doing so for years. Interestingly, all of these manufacturers are seeing positive sales globally.
In North America, sales are flat, while manufacturers like Harley Davidson, saw a 16% decrease in sales, year over year, with total sales of 188,000 units. If there is a truly big story, it’s which companies are growing, and growing significantly. Another fact is obvious. They are not from North America.
CFMoto, new to the North American market, and now 49% owned by KTM is already making huge inroads into the motorcycle market globally. CFMoto has seen its sales increase by 23% to 129,000 units in 2023. TVS, the Indian Motorcycle Company is already at 3.5% of the global market, an 18.5% increase in global sales, year over year, and in 2024, TVS will be entering the North American market. Yamaha, by comparison, saw a 0.9% reduction in sales, but still sold over 3.5 million units in 2023. Meanwhile, Honda saw its sales increase by 10.2% in 2023, producing 18.7 million motorcycles. BMW saw its sales increase by 6.2% year over year and will sell almost 200,000 units globally. Triumph’s sales rose 10.3% to 90,000 units. Kawasaki saw an annual sales increase of 3.2% to 545,000 units. Suzuki saw an increase in sales of 11.2% global sales and now produces 900,000 units per year. Royal Enfield’s sales increased by 19.9% year over year with 700,000 units sold. Even Ducati saw an increase of 2.8% in global sales with a total production of 68,000 units.
The question then becomes obvious. What is the future for manufacturers like Harley Davidson that have seen their market share constantly diminish for the last ten years?
To put it into perspective, Harley’s global sales are 2.6% of the global market while Honda is 29.5% of the global market. The two companies are going in opposite directions in terms of market share and sales.
It’s also fairly clear that while North American consumers may still consider foreign motorcycles to be inferior, that the global market wholly disagrees, and to illustrate that fact, North American manufacturers continue to fall farther and farther behind. The other fact is that these foreign manufacturers are capturing more and more of the North American market.
But the worst situation for Harley, is not just the trend, but the fact that the demographic for motorcyclists in North America is aging, while in Asia, Indian and South East Asian nations, the demographic is toward younger riders wanting more transportation freedom. Worse for North American manufacturers, this demographic doesn’t want what North America is producing. For example, Royal Enfield’s sales in North America increased 22.8% in 2023, and it imports all its motorcycles.
Not to put too fine a point on it, this coming year, CFMoto, Royal Enfield, TVS and a host of smaller Chinese manufacturers will be bringing their products to the North American market, further diluting the sales of North American manufacturers. It seems obvious that the North American manufacturers are in more than just a little bit of trouble.
I remember back to 1969 when people commented that Japanese motorcycles were junk and had no future. Today that comment seems patently idiotic.
One can argue with an opinion, but is should logically be justified by the facts, and the facts are clearly obvious.
Twenty twenty four will be a watershed year for the motorcycle industry. By 2026, a clear distinction will exist between the types of motorcycles produced and their global acceptance. Some manufacturers may find themselves even at risk of dissolution. Only time will tell.
Ciao…
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