As a motorcycle kingdom in the world, motorbike sales in Vietnam hit over 749,500 units in the second quarter of this year, decreased 4.4 percent year-on-year.
According to a report on local media, the motorbikes were sold by five members of the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM), namely Honda Vietnam, Yamaha Motor Vietnam, Suzuki Vietnam, Piaggio Vietnam and SYM Vietnam, in the Vietnamese market.
In the first quarter of this year, the five VAMM members sold more than 753,900 motorbikes in the market, down 6.1 percent.
Vietnam gained motorbike sales of nearly 3.4 million vehicles in 2018, breaking the record of 3.3 million units in 2011, up 3.5 percent against 2017, said the VAMM. Meanwhile, the country spent 647 million U.S. dollars importing motorbikes, components and spare parts, up 45.2 percent, according to its General Department of Vietnam Customs.
Although Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has decided to ban motorbikes from running in its urban districts from 2030, the local motorcycle market will remain stable in the near future, the VAMM forecast.
Motorbikes remain the most popular means of transportation in Vietnam, which has a population of around 97 million people and 50 million registered motorbikes, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Vietnam busy traffic scene, motorbike riders wearing mouthpieces (face masks) to protect themselves against smog and exhaust fumes in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
In recent years, urban dwellers in the country have preferred scooters, while their rural counterparts still have had a high demand for motorcycles.
Despite government efforts to reduce the number of motorbikes on the road to curb traffic congestion, they are here to stay – for now.
It is hard to deny motorbikes play an important role in all aspects of everyday life in Vietnam, particularly in major cities. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City everyone has a motorbike to travel around the tiny streets and alleys. And the number of newly-registered vehicles is still on the rise.