2 billion super motorbike: Vietnamese players look at more than ride

A series of world-famous large-capacity motorcycle brands are pouring into Vietnam. Models with high technology, "huge" engines, selling prices from hundreds of millions to billions of dong, are continuously launched to attract Vietnamese players. Super motorbikes priced at over 2 billion dong have not only appeared in big cities, but provinces such as Nghe An, Ha Tinh... have also started to buy them.

Dizzy with super motor

A recent large-displacement motorcycle demonstration in Ho Chi Minh City has shown the leading car manufacturer's interest in the Vietnamese market.

If Honda has the super motorbike CBR1000RR, Yamaha has the super motorbike YZR-M1, XSR900; Kawasaki has the super motorbike Ninja ZX-10R and Suzuki also has the super motorbike GSX-R1000 2016 to compete. In addition, there are a series of other large-displacement sports motorbikes from the 4 "big" Japanese motorbikes showing off their power together.

With brands from Europe, Ducati brings a series of famous models such as Scrambler, Multistrada, Diavel, of which the most impressive is Scrambler Sixty2. Benelli offers 15 models in segments from 150cc to 1,130cc. Notably, Piaggio Vietnam also decided to enter the large-displacement motorbike market and launched two names, Moto Guzzi and Aprillia, with expensive versions in the 750 - 1,400cc segment being offered.

Major motor distributors continuously offer products to Vietnam.

In the market, a few days before, two long-standing American motorcycle brands, Indian and Victory, also offered their latest models to Vietnamese customers, with all versions. This signaled the excitement of the large-displacement motorcycle market in Vietnam in the coming time.

If 5 years ago, seeing a large displacement motorbike on the street was quite rare, then in the past few years, motorbikes with "huge" engines no less than cars, along with the image of Bikers wearing sports clothes, wearing helmets, fully equipped, with loud engine noise, speeding on the road, are no longer strange.

In particular, since March 1, 2014, when the Ministry of Transport abolished the regulation limiting the number of people taking the A2 driving license exam, allowing anyone to take the exam, the movement of playing with large displacement motorbikes has grown stronger and stronger.

It is considered a "medicine" to stimulate growth for the large-displacement motorcycle market in Vietnam.

According to statistics, the whole country currently has over 25,000 registered large-displacement motorbikes, with about 14,000 in Ho Chi Minh City alone and more than 1,000 in Hanoi.

Although the rate is still small compared to regular two-wheeled motorbikes, the number of newly registered large-capacity motorbikes is increasing very rapidly compared to the previous period.

If we consider the increasing number of large displacement motorcycle brands entering Vietnam and their sales continuously increasing, we can see the level of spending of Vietnamese people on this vehicle.

A distributor of luxury motorbikes revealed that Harley-Davidson models priced from 336 million VND to 2 billion VND are very popular. Each time a batch of motorbikes arrives in Vietnam, a container of about 8 to 12 motorbikes is sold within 5 days, with many customers from the North flying all the way to Saigon to buy. Similarly, in early 2015, a shipment of 20 Kawasaki Z1000 motorbikes from 2014 was imported and sold out within 10 days of arriving at the port. Each motorbike costs nearly 600 million VND.

Nowadays, super motorbikes, such as the Honda Goldwing priced at over 1 billion VND, are no longer strange to Vietnamese people. They not only appear in big cities, but also in localities such as Nghe An, Ha Tinh... they have started to buy a lot.

Big potential market

However, car manufacturers say that the Vietnamese motorcycle market is just beginning. Each year, Vietnam only imports about 1,000 vehicles, which is 1/10 of the number of large-engine motorcycles sold in Thailand.

Currently, the selling price of cars in Vietnam is quite high, due to high taxes and fees. The current import tax rate for large-engine motorcycles is from 65% to 75%, depending on the type; along with a special consumption tax of 20% and a VAT of 10%. Not to mention that the car models also incur additional shipping fees, storage fees, inspection fees, etc. On average, a car imported to the Vietnamese market costs 2-3 times more than the price of a car on the world market.

Super motorbikes costing billions are no longer rare.

In addition to the high price, large displacement motorbikes in Vietnam also face the prominent problem of lanes and speed. Currently, large displacement motorbikes still have to share lanes with two-wheeled vehicles and mixed lanes, which limits their speed. And most of the buyers first of all satisfy their desire to own a super motorbike, to admire and show off, but rarely have the opportunity to use its full potential.

According to the commitment to reduce import tax from the trade agreements that Vietnam has signed such as AFTA, Vietnam-EU, TPP, large displacement motorcycles imported from Southeast Asia, Japan, EU, America... will gradually decrease and be abolished within the next 8 years. This will help imported large displacement motorcycles have the opportunity to reduce prices.

Along with that, recently, the authorities have decided to pilot large-displacement motorbikes on three major highways: Hanoi - Lao Cai, Ho Chi Minh City - Dau Giay and Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong. In the future, large-displacement motorbikes may be allowed to operate on highways. This is something that many motorcyclists have long been looking forward to, because it will create an infrastructure for large-displacement motorbikes to operate and develop.

There are many opportunities, so certainly the large displacement motorcycle brands will not sit still. This promises that the Vietnamese large displacement motorcycle market will flourish in the near future.

According to Vietnamnet