In 2024, China exported 36.76 million motorcycles, accounting for 55% of the total global motorcycle sales.

According to customs data, in 2024, China's motorcycle exports reached 36.76 million units, accounting for 55% of the total global motorcycle sales, with 14.5 million fuel motorcycles exported, representing 22% of the world's total motorcycle sales, and electric motorcycles accounting for 33% of the world's total. Cui Dongshu, the Secretary-General of the China Passenger Vehicle Association, stated that the fierce competition and industry progress in the motorcycle industry have brought strong world competitiveness to Chinese manufacturing, pushing China's manufactured motorcycles to a super strong global position. Cui pointed out that in 2024, China exported 6.41 million vehicles, accounting for 7% of the global total sales, much lower than the overall 55% share of motorcycles and the 22% share of purely fuel motorcycles. Through the lens of motorcycles, China's automotive exports are expected to have significant international competitiveness, driving the Chinese automotive industry's overall manufacturing capabilities to break through to exports in the tens of millions, and even reach 20 million vehicles with the potential for overseas manufacturing. 1. The overall global motorcycle market situation According to DEPSEEK's data on global motorcycle sales in China, because the data only goes up to 2022. Based on overseas data, global motorcycle sales in 2023 reached a record second-high of 62.6 million units, a 7% year-on-year increase, marking three consecutive years of positive growth. In 2024, global motorcycle sales reached a historic breakthrough, reaching 67 million units. According to Statista data, in 2023, motorcycle sales in India reached 17.54 million units, making it the largest market in the world, while Indonesia sold 6.24 million units, making it the second-largest market in the region. In addition to Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and other countries/regions, the combined sales of these 11 countries totaled 34.19 million units. The number of motorcycles in Sub-Saharan Africa increased from 5 million units in 2010 to 27 million units in 2022, representing a growth rate of 440%. The motorcycle market in the Americas has experienced moderate growth in recent years, with total sales increasing from 32.3 million units in 2019 to 54 million units in 2024, with a CAGR of 6.3%. The North American market sees annual sales of 600,000 to 800,000 units, relatively stable. In 2019, the European motorcycle market grew by 7.9%, reaching 1.7 million units. In 2023, the European motorcycle market saw significant growth, with sales reaching 2.56 million units, a year-on-year increase of 24.2%. In 2022, influenced by external factors, it is estimated that the Russian motorcycle market sold 17,000 units. In 2023, this number increased to over 20,000 units. The motorcycle market in South America has shown growth in recent years, increasing from 3.7 million units in 2012 to an expected unit sales of 4.01 million units in 2024. 2. Strong performance of China's motorcycle exports Customs data shows that China's contribution to the world's motorcycle market has been significant. Starting from 2016, China's motorcycle exports reached 16 million units, reaching 36.76 million units in 2024, accounting for 55% of the total global motorcycle sales. The export of internal combustion engine motorcycles reached 14.5 million units in 2024, representing 22% of the total global motorcycle sales. This indicates that China's contribution to the world of motorcycle exports, particularly in fuel motorcycles, has been very strong. In 2024, the export of electric motorcycles and scooters reached 22 million units, accounting for 33% of the world's total. Therefore, China's contribution to the world of motorcycle exports should be very high, indicating that Chinese motorcycles have performed much better globally than perceived domestically. In 2024, motorcycle exports from China were close to $14.5 billion, showing strong performance. Some people argue that cutthroat competition in the domestic motorcycle market has led to the collapse of the global motorcycle market, but looking at the export volume, China's export of internal combustion engine motorcycles accounts for 22% of the world's total sales. If electric motorcycles are also included, China's motorcycle exports should be performing at a very high level. 3. Characteristic of Japanese motorcycles in the global motorcycle market The export volume of Japanese motorcycles is very low, mainly produced overseas. The peak of Japan's motorcycle exports in recent years was 920,000 units in 2017, with Japan dominating the world's motorcycle market largely through overseas production. The number of Japanese brand motorcycles manufactured in China is unclear, but Honda's Xin Da Zhou and Wu Yang Honda together account for around 1.5 million units in export and domestic sales. In recent years, restrictions on motorcycles in large Chinese cities have led to a gradual shift from Chinese production to Southeast Asian production for Japanese motorcycles. Because Japanese automobiles are very strong in Southeast Asia, especially with the good coexistence development of Honda motorcycles and Honda cars. 4. Rapid development in the domestic Chinese motorcycle market Many people in our major cities have no concept of motorcycles, as the survival environment for motorcycles in major cities is extremely difficult. I used to have an E-bike, and Tianjin did not have traffic restrictions in the last century. Riding a broken motorcycle felt great, but it always needed repairs and had poor quality spare parts. But in the past 20 years, I have hardly ridden one. Compared to the car market, the motorcycle market is negligible. Before 2020, China had only about 5 million motorcycles, with car sales being 6 times that of motorcycles; many rural motorcycles may not even be licensed. With the introduction of electric motorcycles and the rise of delivery services, motorcycle sales boomed to 11.3 million units in 2022 before easing in 2023 due to the return of freedom of movement. 5. Fierce competition in the motorcycle market breeds strong competitiveness In 2024, China's motorcycle exports reached 36.76 million units, a significant increase of 10 million units, showing strong performance. Fuel motorcycles increased from 11.41 million units in 2023 to 14.5 million units, an increase of 3.1 million units, with the average price maintained at over $600. China's electric motorcycles and scooters increased to 22.13 million units, growing by 7.08 million units, with the average price decreasing to $263, showing excellent performance. The above figure shows the export statistics based on the quantity of exports. China's motorcycle export regions: mainly focused on Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The Latin American market's share of Chinese motorcycle exports increased from 28% in 2015 to 38% in 2024, making it the largest market for Chinese motorcycle exports. This is followed by Asia and Africa. Over the past five years, impressive growth has also been seen in Turkey and Venezuela."Russia and other countries. The proportion of Europe and America is relatively small, totaling only 12%."6. The future export scale of Chinese automobiles should exceed tens of millions of vehicles. Among the exports of various durable consumer goods in China, it can be said that automobiles have relatively the most potential. Automobiles, as the largest household consumer goods, also have a relatively large consumption scale. The global annual sales of automobiles are around 90 million vehicles. On the other hand, the global annual sales of motorcycles are around 70 million vehicles, so automobiles are actually the most important bulk consumer goods in the world market. China has shown excellent export performance in bulk durable consumer goods, such as the annual export volume of Chinese mobile phones consistently staying around 900 million units, and annual exports of laptops at a scale of 140 million units. Tablet computers have an annual export scale of 110 million units, with a peak annual export volume of 140 million units, while television exports are at a scale of 110 million units annually. Refrigerators have an annual export scale of 80 million units, air conditioners at a scale of 60 million units, bicycles at a scale of 47 million units, and motorcycles at a scale of 36 million units. In contrast, our automobile exports that year were only 1 million units and currently stand at a scale of 6 million units, with exports of pure electric passenger cars at a scale of 1.65 million units in 2024. On the other hand, the export of electric motorcycles and bicycles from China is at a scale of 22 million units, a difference of over ten times, proving that there is still huge potential for development in the export of Chinese automobiles in terms of electrification. Furthermore, we believe that looking into the future of Chinese automobile development in electrification, as a durable consumer good, the development of automobile exports should be able to achieve a breakthrough in scale, reaching an export volume of tens of millions or even surpassing tens of millions, which I feel is completely feasible.