A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 2 May 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — SELF-INFLICTED STUPIDITY
Wall Street stocks kicked off the week by falling, as US traders suffered a renewed bout of jitters, despite sentiment calming after the violent fallout from President Trump’s blitz of tariffs on American trading partners. Markets continued to go up and down like the proverbial stripper’s knickers. A low point midweek came after data revealed the US economy had contracted for the first time since 2022, shrinking by an annualised 0.3% over the first three months of this year. Driver had been the desperate rush by American companies to build imported inventory in advance of severe tariff impositions.
However, this febrile investment mood then swung the other way, as China’s commerce ministry announced that it had received overtures from Washington through various channels, signalling a desire to initiate trade talks. As a result, New York market indices recovered sharply. The blue-chip S&P 500 subsequently closed 2.9% up while the Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 3%. S&P’s MidCap 400 and NASDAQ’s Composite respectively finished with 3.5% and 3.4% gains.
MidCap biker dunce of the week was Harley-Davidson, admitting to pathetic Q1 financial results, its share price effectively frozen. Harley’s electric bike spin-off LiveWire fared worse, its shares plummeting below a two-buck marker.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 23.51 | +0.1% | +2.3% |
| Polaris Industries | 34.83 | +1.4% | -5.1% |
| Textron | 71.02 | +3.8% | +16.9% |
| Niu Technologies | 3.54 | +0.6% | +10.6% |
| LiveWire | 1.42 | -32.4% | -25.7% |
EUROPE — HANGING ON THROUGH GRITTED TEETH
European market indices were remarkably buoyant while Trump dithered over the direction of his tariffs appertaining to multi-sourced international automotive industries. Frankfurt’s key Xetra Dax rose by 3.8% and the FTSE MIB in Milan finished 2.6% up. In Austria, the Wiener Börse ATX added 1.4%. Donating some perspective, a leading French banker at Société Générale opined: “It is very clear that markets are past the peak tariff fear. But have we really passed through the peak tariff impact? I think we are far away from that.”
On the biker front line, Pierer Mobility’s production stoppage at its KTM plant in Mattighofen, owing to a component famine, was sharply punished by a 7.2% share price slump.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 74.82 | -2% | +10.1% |
| Volkswagen | 98.65 | -1.6% | +9.6% |
| Pierer Mobility | 12.00 | -7.2% | -17.2% |
| Piaggio Group | 1.79 | +2.3% | -2.2% |
JAPAN — IN THE WAITING ROOM
Following Trump’s 90-day tariff pause for negotiations, Japan was first off the line begging for mercy — and now first to have its ongoing face-to-face talks suspended while a certain orange blob occupying the White House actually decides what outcome he seeks. Decisions aren’t now expected until July. Meanwhile Tokyo and Osaka’s key Nikkei 225 stock index continued to rise for a third consecutive week, this time adding a gain of 3.2%. Japanese investors are therefore becoming increasingly relaxed. Share prices for all four biker brands expressed varying degrees of positivity. For Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki, that will be related to their imminent full-year financial revelations.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1484 | +2.9% | +18.1% |
| Yamaha | 1144.5 | +1.4% | 9.4% |
| Suzuki | 1781 | +5.4% | +4.5% |
| Kawasaki | 8432 | +0.6% | +13.9% |
INDIA — BOMB SPEAK
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was rewarded by a flying visit from US Vice President JD Vance, presumably as a precursor to talks on whatever Trumpist tariff burden India will be eventually obliged to accept. Unfortunately, though, Vance’s arrival coincided with Modi being on the cusp of declaring war on Pakistan, after Pakistani-equipped Kashmiri terrorists inconveniently murdered 20-odd Indian tourists in the disputed Kashmir territory. Aware that both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons in their goodie cupboards, Vance was immediately heading back to the airport as fast as his stumpy little legs would take him.
Being made of sterner stuff, Indian investors weren’t bothered and Mumbai market indices rose. S&P’s BSE Sensex 30 finished 1.6% up and the NSE Nifty 50 improved by 1.3%. However, biker stocks weren’t overtly popular. The value of all five leading indigenous motorcycle manufacturers declined.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 3740.50 | -4% | +2.2% |
| Bajaj Auto | 7836.50 | -2.5% | +2% |
| TVS Motor | 2713.80 | -0.9% | +10.1% |
| Eicher Motors | 5437.50 | -2.5% | +3.6% |
| Mahindra | 2926.20 | +2.2% | +12.7% |
CHINA — SLIGHT STANCE SOFTENING
In China, the week concluded with a modest reduction in tub-thumping tone versus the Americans. Beijing now requires “sincerity” and the US being prepared to cancel its unilateral tariffs for talks to begin. Funnily enough, this change in rhetoric paralleled signs that China’s confidence in its economic resilience is weakening. Both key market indices, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300, incurred weekly losses, respectively 0.5% and 0.4% down. Contrarily, our gauge of China’s ten listed motorcycle producers told a different story. Six of them accrued value, only four didn’t.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 15.15 | -3.1% | -11.7% |
| Zongshen | 21.04 | +0.9% | -0.9% |
| Sundiro | 4.31 | +6.4% | +1.2% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 12.00 | +1.2% | -3.9% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 8.86 | +6.4% | +6.4% |
| Loncin | 12.45 | -1.3% | +13.6% |
| Linhai | 10.14 | +1% | +3.4% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 8.01 | -0.4% | -3.6% |
| CFMoto | 166.00 | -1.1% | -3.9% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 10.95 | +8.4% | +2.4% |