Large displacement motorbikes: Still not 'exploding'

Contrary to predictions, the large-displacement motorbike market is still quite quiet despite being “unleashed” since March 1, 2014… The high selling price of motorbikes has made the market not very vibrant.

Price barrier

Although the real demand for large-displacement motorbikes among Vietnamese consumers is still very large, the reason why the large-displacement motorbike market has not been able to become vibrant is because the selling price of these types of motorbikes is still too high.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuyet, owner of the New Generation motorbike import business on Ba Trieu street, said: “Unlike many people predicted, the large-displacement motorbike market would be bustling right after being “untied” by Circular 38 of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) which took effect from March 1, 2014, after half a year the market still has not had many differences. As someone who has been in the motorbike business for many years, I understand why it has not been bustling. The main reason is that the price of motorbikes is still too high compared to the income of most consumers. For example, if you want to own a large-displacement Ducati motorbike, customers must have at least 400 million to a billion VND, or need to have 500 million to 2 billion VND to buy a Harley-Davidson…”.

The large displacement motorcycle market has yet to explode.

Through research, it is known that when wanting to buy a large displacement motorbike, most customers want to choose a reputable brand such as: Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda... because in addition to satisfying the hobby of playing with motorbikes, users also consider it an asset with little depreciation, can be resold at a high price. Other large displacement motorbikes are affordable for many people, but for a motorbike connoisseur, they still do not want to open their wallet to bring that motorbike home.

Mr. Nguyen Sinh Thanh, Director of a motorbike import company in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, said that currently, import tax on large-displacement motorbikes accounts for about 75% of the value of the motorbike, in addition, the importer must pay an additional 20% special consumption tax and 10% VAT. Not to mention that the motorbike models also have to pay additional transportation fees, storage fees, registration fees... On average, a motorbike imported to the Vietnamese market has a price 2-3 times higher than the price of motorbikes in the world market. A Ducati Monster 795, although enjoying preferential tariffs according to form D, is still at the same level as a Kia Morning or Hyundai Getz car... With a selling price equal to a car, many customers have weighed it up and chosen to buy a car rather than a large-displacement motorbike...

Beneli B302 has attractive price

According to the representative of Motorrock, a large-displacement motorbike distributor in Hanoi, the number of motorbikes sold by this chain system is about 100 motorbikes/month. The reason for such good sales is that the Benelli large-displacement motorbike line that Motorrock is distributing has a reasonable selling price, around 100 million VND/bike.

Many people in the motorcycle business share the same opinion that the large-displacement motorcycle market is only in its early stages of development, and the A2 license only allows consumers to shorten the distance to owning a large-displacement motorcycle, while buying a motorcycle still depends on the selling price.

Car companies and distributors take the lead

Instead of waiting for tax policies to decrease, immediately after Circular 38 TT-BGTVT took effect from March 1, 2014, car manufacturers and distributors took action to anticipate the market by immediately introducing new products, or planning to import and distribute large-displacement vehicles in the near future.

Genuine BMW S1000 RR just appeared in Hanoi

Mr. Horst J. Herdtle, General Director of Euro Auto - the exclusive importer and distributor of BMW cars in Vietnam, said: In November this year, Vietnamese customers can visit BMW showrooms nationwide to see and bring home large-displacement motorcycles of the world-famous BMW brand. Currently, the procedures to become a Euro Auto motorrad distributor have been completed, the first BMW motorbike showroom in Vietnam is the BMW Long Bien showroom, Hanoi and all BMW showrooms nationwide will have a dedicated BMW motorbike showroom that meets motorrad's global standards for sales and after-sales services.

As for the distributor of large displacement motorbikes, Motorrock, they said that right after receiving information about Vietnamese people being able to freely take the A2 license exam, they planned to expand their sales network, continue to import new models of motorbikes suitable for Vietnamese people's budget and physique, notably the Benelli 302 model with an expected selling price of about 110 million VND, in addition to a number of other models such as: BN600i, TnT R160, TnT 1130...

and will be officially launched in the near future.

Similarly, the large-displacement motorcycle brand KTM, although it only entered the Vietnamese market at the end of last year, has rapidly expanded its sales network in major markets such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh, Nha Trang, Dong Nai, and Vung Tau. With the advantage of products in the 200 - 400cc segment, diverse designs, and prices under 200 million VND, KTM will be one of the potential large-displacement motorcycle brands in Vietnam in the future.

Although it has not confirmed which large-displacement motorbike models will be introduced to the Vietnamese market, Honda Vietnam has recently shown its interest in this market by opening driving classes to obtain A2 licenses (allowed to use motorbikes with a capacity of over 175cc) for customers. In addition, HVN also organizes large-displacement motorbike driving training classes for staff of driving schools and traffic police in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Honda's large-displacement motorbike models are currently priced appropriately for the Vietnamese market, including scooters (Pantheon 250, SH300...), sports models, naked-bikes (CBR1000RR, CB1000R, CBR600R...) and some off-road vehicles (CRF450R, CRF250L...)

In addition to the official distributors, small importers have recently continuously brought the latest large-displacement motorbike models to Vietnam and have been selling quite quickly. One of the models that is selling quite strongly is the Kawasaki Z1000 2014.

According to VnMedia