Vietnam Motorcycles Market is struggling. The start of 2024 was disappointing with first quarter sales at 660.391 (-5.9%). The leader, Honda, kept sales flat, but all others are sharply losing.
Vietnam Motorcycles Industry Trend and Perspectives
Vietnam holds the fourth largest 2-wheeler market in the World and third largest as electric 2W sales and is involved in an hard evolution, with a transaction to low emission vehicles pushed and supported by the government, but hindered by established OEMs, Honda and Yamaha overall.
It is estimated that more than two third of each person living in Vietnam hold a 2-W and over 90% of households have a scooter.
Vietnam is even one of fastest growing GDP in the world and together with the needs to reduce huge urban pollution, the 2-wheeler sector is expected to be transformed in the next few years.
Following the post covid recovery scored in the previous two years and although a still fast GDO growing speed, in the last months the domestic motorcycles market reported almost negative y-o-y- figures and the 2023 was quite below the expectations.
Final 2023 data reports total 2-wheeler sales at 2.78 million (-18.1%) the worse results in the last 15 years and expectations for a recovery in 2024 are high.
However, even the start of current year was disappointing with first quarter sales at 660.391 (-5.9%).
The market is declining in all sections, with scooter segment down 5.8% and motorcycle 16.1%.
Even the electric segment is struggling with L1 category (correspondent to the below 50cc) down 28.4%, while the L3 category was up 10.8%. with segment figures down 12.7%
In the competitive arena, the two market leaders, Honda and Yamaha reported different performance, the first gaining 0.3% and the second dropping 27.3%.
The position behind have been taken by EVs specialist. However, they are all losers so far this year: Pega in down 18.4%, the Chinese Yadea, which have celebrated the first 100.000 sales since the local plant opening, a couple of years ago is down 16.0% and the other domestic EV specialist, Vinfast, recently quoted at Nasdaq, gains only 5.9%.
