India Overtakes China to Become the World's Largest Two-Wheeler Market

Indian two-wheeler market stands to become the largest in the world, beating China, with demand soaring in the rural regions amid a good monsoon and government initiatives towards rural development, a report said on Friday. Two-wheeler sales around the world clocked 4 percent year-over-year growth in H12024, a Counterpoint Research note said.

While India, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa registered growth, China and Southeast Asia declined.

He said that the two-wheeler market in India was remarkable, showing YoY growth of 22 percent in the first half of this year.

"This gave the Indian market the much-needed performance to beat China to take the top slot as the world's largest two-wheeler market," he mentioned.

In India, in the June quarter, two wheelers are growing with a strong double-digit year-on-year.
Consumers in China seem to be preferring e-bicycles over motorcycles and scooters for daily commuting, which is lagging it short-term there in particular in the electric two-wheeler space. Two-wheelers less than 125cc are still in favor.

In South East Asia, key markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia saw declining sales of two-wheelers on account of geopolitical trade tensions, tighter loan conditions, and consumers remaining relatively conservative in their spends due to uncertain economies.
During H1 2024, the top-10 global two-wheeler producers accounted for over 75 percent of sales.
Honda continued at the very top of the two-wheeler global leaders' table, followed by Hero MotoCorp (NS:HROM), Yamaha, TVS Motor and Yadea.

The fastest-growing brand from the top-10 brands was TVS Motor that grew 25 percent YoY, while the biggest fall came for Yadea that declined 29 percent YoY and dropped to the fifth place.

Neil Shah, Vice President of Research, said, "We are seeing electrification going ahead. By 2030, we expect four out of 10 two-wheelers sold will be electric.".

"This shift is also speeding the adoption of embedded cellular connectivity in the two-wheeler segment. As automotive advances toward C-V2X technology, the two-wheeler segment will follow," he added.