A look back at all the main talking points in the Chinese motorcycle industry this year
A look back at all the main talking points in the Chinese motorcycle industry this year
2018 in China saw the continuing trend of declining sales domestically (and also in traditionally safe Chinese markets like Latin America and Africa) but an upturn in exports to Europe have made sure that the Chinese manufacturers who have taken the time and effort to produce motorcycles suitable for the European market are still making company saving profits.
I have previously documented how 2018 has been a year in which some Chinese motorcycle manufacturers have looked to change the scope of their main manufacture (primarily to cars, vans, electric bikes or just parts) but this attempted transition has had a disastrous effect on former Chongqing motorcycle manufacturing giant YinXiang.
Biggest negative of 2018
After 8 long years of research and development with cars and vans YinXiang have found themselves in dire financial problems as the venture to pay less attention to their motorcycle manufacture and to transition to cars seems to have failed. Industry expert Ma Lei reports “it’s a very different story to Lifan’s experience. Not only were Lifan one of the first to develop cars but they also had the foresight to keep their motorcycle production going to keep providing the bikes and at the same time develop their cars but YinXiang have not managed (or some say even tried) to do the same and are now in big financial trouble and have taken out several loans to the amount of one billion yuan (roughly 110 million pounds)” Less than eight years ago YinXiang were one of the top 12 motorcycle manufacturers in the world producing over one million units a year, so far this year (January to November) YinXiang have produced just 179900 units.
Production trends
For probably the 3rd year in a row many Chinese factories are concentrating on designing and producing scramblers and Café racers and more and more factories that were happily pumping out generic commuters have turned their attention to more custom like classic models. Industry expert Ma Deng reports “the top manufacturers have worked out that there was more profit in making and selling one decently designed retro café-racer (especially to the EURO or American market) than there was in probably 4 street bikes when you consider cost of production and sales prices. There has been a definite shift in the bikes required by riders, even in developing countries, and they are looking for a bit of style these days and you can see this reflected if you attend the motorcycle expos in places like Colombia, Mexico or Ghana. Another facet of the motorcycle industry that has changed is the factory’s willingness to take on custom designs. When every factory was selling record amounts of bikes they were quite rigid about the model you could by and where quite unmovable on anything changing other than the odd mud-guard or fairing. There days it’s quite a different story with even the smaller factories producing bespoke motorcycles for customers. This is a trend we will see more and more!”
Biggest positive
The good news for the Chinese motorcycle industry is that the Chinese government looks likely to lift the ban on the riding of motorcycles in some Chinese towns and cities hopefully with these actions providing a catalyst for the lifting of restrictions nation-wide. Many urban centres are having huge problems with the unqualified riding of electric scooters and bikes (accidents caused by these vehicles are commonplace as Chinese riders tend to think it’s okay to ride them anywhere including on the pavements and in shopping centres) and are now seeing that reverting to allowing ICE two-wheelers is probably the better option; primarily because a test pass and a licence is necessary to ride them. The good news for the industry as a whole is that with an expanding domestic market the supply chain grows and bikes become cheaper to make, a saving that can be passed on to the dealer (in any country) and the end user. The banning of motorcycles domestically was instrumental in the decline of the industry as a whole.
Electric startups
2018 has been the year that has seen Chinese electric motorcycle and scooter manufacturers’ capitilise on startup money from western countries. Beijing EV company Nui have gone from strength to strength as they pick up investment from western nations and Xiaomi have introduced their scooters onto the British market.
Conclusion
2018 seems to be the year that many Chinese manufacturers have finally started learning from their mistakes, stopped being complacent and started listening to advice certainly in terms of turning their backs on mass-producing commuter street bikes as a staple in favour of adding a bit of style to their repertoire. Although we still don’t see many manufacturers produce bikes with engines bigger than 250cc the list does grow every year and I think we can expect a boom in this department very soon.
Sales of Chinese bikes globally have fallen below the total numbers of Indian manufactured bikes although Indian companies (there are only 5: Hero, Bajaj, Mahrindra, TVS and Royal Enfield) in total export less than 10% of their product compared to the near 50% of Chinese export output meaning that you are much more likely to see or ride a Chinese bike than an Indian one, for the near future anyway!
For any more info contact me, David McMullan, at [email protected]