Global motorbike makers in rat race to grab BD market


Jubair Hasan | Published: April 05, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00


Motorbikes parked in the city — FE Photo


The local motorbike market has recorded a substantial growth in recent years with global bike-manufacturers battling for their share in it, industry-insiders said.
Nowadays, motorbike has become first attraction for office-goers and professionals because of its size and affordable price in the country.
But an acute road-infrastructure shortage stands in the way of such individual vehicle rides, both the industry people and users said.
The bikers include businesspeople, doctors, journalists, lawyers and teachers, students and NGO activists.
Apart from the individual transport needs, the two-wheeler has generated commercial value in upcountry areas.
Thousands of unemployed educated and semi-educated people, mostly youths, in the rural areas chose motorcycle for their main source of earning by commercially carrying passengers on narrow roads from one sub-town to another and a village to another one.
Because of the country's huge population base and vibrant economic activities, global brands in the motorcycle industry got in a rat race to enter the highly potential market with enhanced investment plans to have a good share of the market of 160-million-strong population, businesses said.
According to the market players, motorcycles manufactured by India's Bajaj Group attained the top position on the market over here with 53 per cent share as some 69,747 bikes of the brand had been sold in the first seven months (till January, 2015) of the current 2014-2015 fiscal year (FY).
Bajaj's popular products are Pulsar, Discover and Avenger.
Another Indian company, TVS Auto, took the second position with 12 per cent (15,529 bikes) market share followed by Hero Honda 9 per cent (11,493), Chinese brand Dayang supplied by Runner Group nearly 8 per cent (10,442) and Walton 6 per cent (6,524) and the remaining 12 per cent shared by Japanese brands Honda and Yamaha, Indian Mahindra, Chinese Haojue and some other bikes.  
Some companies who are supplying such two-wheelers of global brands have adopted long-term investment policy to set up manufacturing units in Bangladesh in next two or three years when the current market size will double, as informed by the industry-insiders.   
At the same time, more local companies are in the queue to tie their knot with international brands to supply the vehicle by considering it another booming business area.

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