India Becomes No 1 Two-Wheeler Market, Overtakes China

Over 17 million two-wheeler sales in India have overtaken China's numbers. Now, India has become the world's largest two-wheeler market by sales volume

By Preetam Bora

1 mins read

Published on May 6, 2017

Highlights

India sold over 17 million two-wheelers overtaking China
China's two-wheeler industry has been on the decline
Two-wheeler restrictions, cheaper cars leading to decline in China

India has overtaken China to become the number one two-wheeler market in the world, overtaking China in overall sales for 2016, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). India sold 17.7 million two-wheelers in 2016, against China's sales of 16.8 million two-wheelers. Scooter sales alone accounted for over 5 million of those figures, while commuter motorcycles in the 100-110 cc segment accounted for nearly 6.5 million unit sales. In terms of pure volumes, China's two-wheeler market is huge, but China's domestic motorcycle market has seen a downturn in recent years due to a ban of motorcycles in many Chinese urban centres. 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Motorcycle Sales in China (In Million) 27.51 27.22 26.37 25.75 26.95 24.56 In 2010, China's domestic motorcycle sales reached over 27 million and then decreased gradually over the next four consecutive years. Comparatively, two-wheeler sales in India have been on an uptrend over the past few years. In 2011-12, India sold over 13 million two-wheelers, which increased to nearly 16 million unit sales by 2014-15. As it stands currently, India's two-wheeler sales are over 17 million at the end of the financial year 2016-17. 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Two-Wheeler Sales in India (In Million) 13.40 13.80 14.80 15.97 16.45 17.67 There are several reasons for the downtrend in the Chinese two-wheeler market. The Chinese domestic market is highly regulated and import barriers are high, reducing motorcycle imports. Moreover, there is no developed motorcycle culture like in the West, so higher capacity motorcycles don't see any significant sales growth. Additionally, about 200 municipalities and cities have banned motorcycles completely from their downtown areas. Heavier bikes with larger engine sizes are officially forbidden from entering the urban area. More importantly, declining motorcycle sales in China are also attributed to the availability of inexpensive Chinese cars. These cars, produced by domestic car makers pose a threat to the two-wheeler market. In India on the other hand, the two-wheeler market is rapidly increasing with a corresponding rise in spending power, and without any restrictions such as China's. The bulk of India's two-wheeler sales comes from commuter motorcycles and automatic scooters.