Global Two-Wheeler Sales Inch Back Towards Recovery

Motorcycle sales across the world in the first eight months of 2020 stood at 32.8 million, a 9 million unit, or 21.5 per cent decline from the corresponding period last year. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns hit the global motorcycle industry hard in the first half of 2020. Global two-wheeler sales was down 29.7 per cent with 21.9 million two-wheelers. In July 2020, global sales hit 5.2 million units, a 3.8 per cent decline, and in August, the number rose to 5.7 million, finally creeping back to positive growth of 9 per cent.

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The Indian two-wheeler market seems to be the most affected in the first eight months of 2020

A look at regional two-wheeler sales data reveals that the Indian region is the most affected by the slowdown, with sales down 37.4 per cent in the January to August 2020 period. India broke a series of 12 declining months only in August 2020, with September beginning to show signs of recovery. With the festive season around the corner, a period that has traditionally seen a hike in passenger car and two-wheeler sales, the Indian two-wheeler industry is expected to make further recovery in the next two months.

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In the rest of Asia, including China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea, two-wheeler sales were down 4.1 per cent and could end the year in line with 2019. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore, have lost 23.5 per cent and the trend seems to be further worsening. In Latin America, the fourth largest region, sales were down 19.6 per cent in the first eight months of 2020, while North America lost only 9.6 per cent. Europe seems to be the lease affected, with just 4.7 per cent decline, and is expected to make a full recovery by the end of the year.