A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 14 March 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — EQUITIES TAKE THE PAIN
An incredibly volatile week of trading on Wall Street was characterised by investors running for cover in a welter of sell-offs and plunging valuations. Although stocks did rally a bit on Friday, the mood wasn’t enough to be viewed as any sort of respite. All leading market indices booked weekly losses.
The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average respectively closed 2.3% and 3.1% down. S&P’s MidCap 400 fell by 2% and the tech-led NASDAQ Composite was 2.4% in arrears. In prime MidCap biker territory, Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle parent Polaris continued on their rocky road to ruin, although Harley’s electric spin-off LiveWire staged a minor recovery.
Donald Trump’s erratic tariff announcements were largely responsible for fanning worries about a growth slow-down in the world’s largest economy. US consumer sentiment tumbled in March, with long-term inflation expectations surging to their highest level in more than three decades.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 24.56 | -3.5% | -4.6% |
| Polaris Industries | 42.33 | -10.9% | -6.1% |
| Textron | 73.19 | -3% | +1.3% |
| Niu Technologies | 2.72 | +12.9% | +18.3% |
| LiveWire | 2.23 | +11.5% | -14.6% |
EUROPE — WAITING FOR PUNISHMENT
European investors tried to balance the destruction from Trump’s on-off trade war with prospects of a ceasefire in Ukraine and the popularity of Germany’s newly-introduced attitude to spending. However, the big Teutonic automotives with motorcycling side-lines (BMW and Volkswagen) qualified full-year financial results with the egregious impact of anticipated US tariffs and their share prices began to decline.
Key eurozone market indices were inevitably fragile, with Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax closing a narrow 0.1% down while the FTSE MIB in Milan managed a 0.2% gain. On the Wiener Börse in Austria, KTM’s Pierer Mobility listing dropped sharply as the company struggled to get its production lines back into business.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 82.10 | -1.8% | -1% |
| Volkswagen | 109.70 | -1.2% | +5.9% |
| Pierer Mobility | 17.20 | -14.4% | -13.4% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.01 | +0.5% | -8.2% |
JAPAN — STUDIED POSSIBILITIES
Tokyo and Osaka’s key Nikkei 225 market index remained positive for a second consecutive week, but only by a slim 0.4%, as investors attempted to analyse potential outcomes from the US. Among biker-related brands, Honda and Kawasaki extended their gains, while Suzuki and Yamaha did the opposite.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1450 | +1.3% | -1.3% |
| Yamaha | 1197.5 | -1.4% | -0.2% |
| Suzuki | 1772.5 | -1.6% | -8.3% |
| Kawasaki | 9166 | +4.8% | +27.8% |
INDIA — SAME OLD STORY
Mumbai’s S&P BSE Sensex 30 and NSE Nifty 50 market indices slumped in unison, both falling by 0.7%, as investor confidence once again waned. The share prices of all five Indian motorcycle manufacturing majors lost value, by larger margins in every case.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 3529.15 | -3.4% | -8.6% |
| Bajaj Auto | 7504.70 | -0.9% | -17.8% |
| TVS Motor | 2250.90 | -3.5% | -6.3% |
| Eicher Motors | 5015.25 | -1.7% | +6.6% |
| Mahindra | 2643.50 | -3.1% | -10.2% |
CHINA — IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
Although Trump and his minions are now unloading fresh waves of tariff agony onto the Chinese economy, Beijing remains remarkably sanguine as it retaliates by denying export opportunities to US agribusiness. The US president’s popularity among mid-Western redneck farmers, who will soon have thousands of tons of soya beans rotting in their fields, has therefore understandably plummeted.
Investment activity, as illustrated by China’s Shanghai SSE Composite and CSI 300 market indices, is also remarkably robust. They respectively rose by 1.4% and 1.6% in the past week. However, motorcycle producer listings were mixed, with six winners and four losers.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 18.88 | +3.1% | -2.6% |
| Zongshen | 23.46 | -3.1% | -14.5% |
| Sundiro | 3.96 | +0.3% | +7.6% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 13.31 | +3% | +1.2% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 8.84 | -3% | +11.2% |
| Loncin | 10.07 | -2.1% | -8.6% |
| Linhai | 9.93 | +3% | +5.6% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 8.62 | -1.5% | -5% |
| CFMoto | 178.81 | +2.5% | -10.2% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 11.32 | +3.6% | +9.6% |