Honda Motor Co. is looking to capture half of the world’s market for motorcycles as industrywide sales of two-wheelers, both gas and electric, are tipped to reach 60 million units annually by 2030.
Honda’s global motorcycle sales are forecast to reach 20.2 million for the fiscal year ending this March, the Japanese company said during a briefing Tuesday, which would give it a share of about 40%.
Honda hopes to eventually claim 50% of the market, including electric bikes. Growth will particularly come from a region Honda calls the Global South — primarily India, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as Brazil and other countries in South and Central America. It didn’t give a time frame for that aspiration.
Honda’s two-wheeler business made around $3.6 billion in operating profit in the 12 months that ended March 31, 2024, up almost 14% from five years earlier. Rising living costs, however, risk putting even motorbikes out of reach for some of the world’s poorest families, while rapid growth in demand for e-bikes is being challenged by stricter emissions regulations in China, the U.S. and Europe.
Honda currently produces more than 20 million units annually at 37 facilities around the world across 23 countries and territories, it said. The highly profitable division will likely take on even more significance as Honda works on plans to fold struggling Nissan Motor Co. into its business.
Minoru Kato, the executive officer in charge of Honda’s motorcycle unit, said he doesn’t believe the two-wheeler segment will be affected by the Nissan deal. “That said, it’s crucial we find the right synergies as negotiations proceed,” he said.
Honda may also run into issues around tariffs, considering it makes some 9,000 units annually at a factory in Mexico, most of which are imported into the U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to levy hefty tariffs on products crossing the Mexican border.
“Of course there will be an effect,” Kato said on Tuesday. “We’re considering relocation as a possible option but no decisions have been made.”
As part of its electrification push, Honda plans to roll out 30 e-models globally by 2030 in order to meet its target of annual electric sales of 4 million units by that year.
Other initiatives include working on the reutilization and recycling of batteries, lowering the cost of e-bikes and making its own factories more environmentally friendly by adding solar power systems.
In India, where Honda said it wants to capture the largest share of the electric motorcycle market, the company has started to offer a battery sharing and swapping service so riders don’t have to face long waits at charging stations.
Honda also plans to have an electric motorcycle plant in India up and running by 2028.
India however has a number of strong players of its own, including market leader Hero MotoCorp Ltd. and Bajaj Auto Ltd.