Taiwan Motorcycle Market starts 2026 in a low tone. In April alone, sales plunged 21.8%, bringing year-to-date registrations to 232,379 units (-10.1%). The electric segment deteriorated even more sharply, collapsing 28.3% through April.
Taiwan Motorcycle Industry: Trends and Perspectives
Taiwan’s motorcycle market, the 12th largest globally, is often referred to as the “kingdom of motorcycles” due to the exceptionally high density of two-wheelers in daily mobility.
Although the market is open to imports, it remains heavily dominated by domestic manufacturers SYM and Kymco, which compete for leadership alongside a growing number of local electric scooter producers. Together with Yamaha Taiwan, these mainly ICE-focused brands account for more than 80% of total market share, while Gogoro continues to dominate the electric segment.
The market is mature and highly sensitive to both economic conditions and government incentive policies, resulting in increasingly volatile demand patterns.
Taiwan was among the earliest adopters of EV incentives nearly a decade ago, enabling rapid growth in electric scooters and fostering the rise of local champions such as Gogoro well before 2020. However, the gradual withdrawal of incentives triggered a sharp contraction in EV demand, weakening consumer confidence and exposing structural fragilities within the segment.
In 2025, the electric category experienced another steep decline, closely reflecting the difficulties faced by Gogoro itself.
The overall motorcycle market has also entered a negative cycle, declining by 14.2% in 2024 and a further 3.8% in 2025. The downturn has been driven primarily by the collapse of the electric segment, with nearly all EV-focused manufacturers reporting heavy losses.
The trend worsened in early 2026. First-quarter sales declined 4.8%, before the impact of rising fuel prices and geopolitical tensions linked to the Iran conflict further pressured the industry. In April alone, sales plunged 21.8%, bringing year-to-date registrations to 232,379 units (-10.1%).
The electric segment deteriorated even more sharply, collapsing 28.3% through April.
Market Leaders and Competitive Dynamics
Within the competitive landscape, the rivalry between Taiwan’s two domestic giants remains highly asymmetric:
- SYM, the market leader, limited its decline to just 4.2%
- Kymco suffered a severe 21.5% drop, signaling growing competitive weakness
Among other players:
- Yamaha continued to outperform traditional OEMs, gaining 6.9% after last year’s strong +32.8%
- Gogoro showed tentative signs of recovery (+15.5%) following the dramatic -47.1% collapse recorded in 2025
- PGO declined 25.5%
- Honda fell 9.2%
- Piaggio gained 4.7%
Overall Assessment
Taiwan’s motorcycle market is entering a structurally more fragile phase. While the overall industry appears close to stabilization, the collapse of the electric segment highlights the extreme dependence of EV adoption on government incentives and policy continuity.
Taiwan was once considered a global benchmark for electric two-wheelers. Today, however, weakening demand, policy inconsistency, and mounting pressure on Gogoro are undermining that leadership position.
Without renewed incentives or a clear long-term industrial strategy, Taiwan risks becoming the first major market where the electric scooter revolution stalls after an early breakthrough.
