VietNamNet Bridge - Honda, the largest motorbike manufacturer in Vietnam, in a recent report, said the motorbike market would not see growth next year. 

The sales of motorbikes in recent years

With population of 90 million, Vietnam is one of the world’s leading motorbike markets. 

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam now has 45 million motorbikes of different kinds in circulation, which means that there is one motorbike for every two Vietnamese. 

State management agencies initially estimated that Vietnam would have 36 million by 2020.

The strong expansion of the motorbike market is attributed to many reasons. First, the Vietnamese income remains modest. Meanwhile, cars have high taxes and fees.

Second, motorbikes allow Vietnamese to take initiative in their travel and not rely on public means of transport which still have not developed well.

Twenty years ago, motorbike not only served as a means of transport, but also as a vehicle to carry goods.

The domestic motorbike market has recently become saturated. Analysts said market will still grow but more slowly.

However, the domestic motorbike market has recently become saturated. Analysts said market will still grow but more slowly.

According to the Vietnam Association of Motorbike Manufacturers (VAMM), sales are on the decrease: about 3.3 million products were sold in 2011, while the figure decreased to 3.1 million and to below 3 million in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

The sales decrease is foreseeable. As the living standards have improved considerably, many Vietnamese families have shifted to use cars instead of motorbikes. Though cars in Vietnam are more expensive than in other countries, high-income earners are willing to pay the prices.

Motorbike manufacturers may understand this, especially Honda, which holds 70 percent of the Vietnamese motorbike market.

The manufacturer saw sales decreasing in 2012 and 2013, before slightly recovering in 2014. Only in 2015 did Honda’s sales return to the 2 million product threshold.

Honda Vietnam in its June report predicted that the Vietnamese motorbike market would not grow in the upcoming years. 

It will try to hold the 70 percent market share and grab more pieces of the cake from rivals.

The manufacturer just set up its third factory in Vietnam in 2014, which helped raised the total production capacity in Vietnam to 2.5 million products a year.

Meanwhile, in 2015, it sold 2.03 million products and exported 128,000.

A report showed that though the Vietnamese motorbike market is becoming saturated, manufacturers still make big profits with 3 million products bought every year.

Tri Thuc Tre