Data Shows Honda is Still Top of The Global Sales Chart
Data from the website Motorcycle Sales Data shows Honda is globally the biggest bike brand, with around one-third of new bike sales
Data from the website Motorcycle Sales Data has revealed the top-selling motorcycle brands on the planet.
And while it’s the BMW GS adventure bike that regularly tops the UK and European sales charts as the best-selling large-capacity bike, the global data paints a very different picture.
The data has been collated from a claimed 92 countries that collect new bike sales data, highlighting both two- and three-wheelers - but not data relating to Tuk-Tuks, ATVs and Side-by-Side off-roaders, or powered micro-scooters.
The website reports that the top-of-the-chart position goes to the global giant that is Honda, with a whopping 18.4 million bikes sold in 2023. That number is up 4.3 per cent on the previous year, and the website says that number means Honda holds one-third of the global market share of newly registered motorbikes.
Selling nearly 20 million new bikes in a year is an almost unfathomable number to us here in the UK, where a reported 1.55 million motorcycles were sold in 2023. But with regions like Asia having an insatiable appetite for lightweight, low-cost bikes, you can see why the Honda brand is so popular.
Next up is the Indian motorcycle giant Hero, which makes a range of lightweight and cost-effective bikes that are almost so cheap they can be seen as disposable items. This accessible price means Hero is huge in India and many other countries in the Asian continent, and it helped the brand to shift 5.6 million bikes, with most of them landing in India.
In third place on the chart is Yamaha, another Japanese brand and, like Honda, one which has a mixed and varied range of bikes, from 1,000cc-and-up to dinky step-through scooters that cost buttons to buy. It’s reported that Yamaha sold 4.6 million bikes globally in 2023, up 0.9 per cent on the previous year.
While the UK’s bike sales are like an eggcup of cold water in a hot bath by comparison, the increase in year-on-year sales for most of the brands on the list does at least go some way to showing that, globally at least, the motorcycle industry is standing in good stead, and looking strong going into 2024.
Top global motorcycle brands based on new bike sales
Brand | 2023 new bike sales |
Honda | 18.4 million |
Hero | 5.6 million |
Yamaha | 4.6 million |
Bajaj | 3.6 million |
TVS Motor | 3.4 million |
Yadea (specialist in EV) | 2.5 million |
Suzuki | 1.9 million |
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
