Gasoline motorcycle sales down as electric bikes gain popularity

VAMM’s figures are consolidated from reports by the five top motorcycle brands in Vietnam, which are its members and account for around 95 percent of market share.

Honda retained its overwhelming lead with a market share of more than 75 percent, Yamaha had around 20 percent. The rest was split between Piaggio, SYM and Suzuki.

In an earlier report VAMM had said falling motorbike sales were because the market was near saturation, and decided not to hold its annual motorcycle exhibition this year for that reason.

But according to industry insiders, the slight decline might not have been entirely the result of falling demand since there has clearly been increasing demand for electric motorbikes though it does take a few years to identify any possible trend.

Although electric motorbike manufacturers have not yet released sales reports, experts believe they would pose significant competition to traditional motorbikes in future with their advantages such as being more environment-friendly and less expensive. 

With sales of nearly 3.4 million units last year, Vietnam was the world's fourth biggest motorcycle market after India, China and Indonesia, according to a recent report by market research firm Motorcycles Data.

But it had the highest per capita sales with over 35,000 new motorbikes sold per one million population.