India’s Motorcycle Sales Results in YTD June 2022

Motorcycle sales in India in the first half of 2022 increased by 4.5% year-on-year to 7.07 million units (SIAM members only). Unless demand recovers significantly in the second half of the year, it is unlikely that full-year sales will return to pre-corona level of around 20 million units. Motorcycles, which are cheaper than automobiles, are more susceptible to inflation. Since January 2022, India's consumer price index has been above the 6% permissible upper limit, set by India’s central bank, for six consecutive months, and has remained at a high level of over 7% for four consecutive months since March. Inflation has been largely responsible for the small increase in motorcycle sales compared to the year-on-year increase of 21.6% of automobiles during the same period. India’s central bank has raised the policy interest rate twice since the beginning of 2022 in response to inflation. In addition, rising loan interest rates are also a cause for concern about the willingness to buy motorcycles.