A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 25 July 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — KEY TARIFF AGREEMENT LOOMS
As the weekend approached, US stocks and the dollar rose, after President Trump intimated that trade negotiations with China are getting near to a deal — given progress likely ahead of talks between Washington and Beijing in Stockholm over the next few days.
Wall Street market indices all turned comfortably positive, led by 1.5% gains at close for the blue-chip S&P 500 and S&P’s MidCap 400. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.3% up and NASDAQ’s Composite, awaiting half-year results from some of the big tech giants. settled on a 1% rise. MidCap biker-related stocks also showed signs of speculative dip-buying in advance of their results statements.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 24.59 | +4.4% | +4.1% |
| Polaris Industries | 50.24 | +7.2% | +22.7% |
| Niu Technologies | 3.87 | +6.6% | +13.8% |
| LiveWire | 4.23 | +9.6% | -1.4% |
EUROPE — DECIDEDLY MIXED MESSAGES
However, many European stocks slipped as optimism over a EU-US trade deal waned. Germany’s key Dax Xetra index closed 0.3% in arrears, while analysts mulled a proposal from Volkswagen to make a huge investment in transferring Audi and Porsche production to the US, thereby keeping their export tariff burden below 15%. BMW, which already has a substantial US manufacturing presence, was sniffing around similar potential tariff-dodging ploys. Bizarrely, these panic-driven manouevres temporarily pushed their respective share prices skywards.
Elsewhere in the eurozone, automotive reaction to the EU-US stand-off was more tempered. The FTSE MIB index in Milan finished positive by 1%, possibly confident in Fiat parent Stellantis and its relationship with Chrysler — which includes the iconic Jeep and Dodge brands on US soil — will be able to pull a tariff rabbit out of its hat. Notably, too, Piaggio exposure to the US market didn’t have an undue impact its share price.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 89.02 | +6.6% | +15.9% |
| Volkswagen | 102.50 | +11.1% | +9.5% |
| Pierer Mobility | 18.28 | -2.9% | +11.6% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.01 | +5.2% | +5.7% |
JAPAN — A COMPLETE SHAMBLES
Tokyo and Osaka’s Nikkei 225 market index abruptly surged by 4.1%, after US negotiators railroaded a tariff settlement through Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office. This deal, for which Japanese officials say there was no written agreement with Washington, will apparently deliver a drop in automotive tariffs to 15% (from an originally threatened 25%). But Trump’s team claimed Tokyo had also undertaken to back investments in the US from which American taxpayers would reap nine-tenths of the profits. If this proves to be true, Ishiba’s political future, already deeply questionable, will become toast.
In the immediate circumstances, Japanese motorcycle manufacturer share prices enjoyed the surge while it lasted, which won’t be long…
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1621 | +9% | +14.1% |
| Yamaha | 1117 | +5.1% | +3.9% |
| Suzuki | 1655.5 | +2% | -5.5% |
| Kawasaki | 10860 | +8.2% | -3.3% |
INDIA — STARMER’S BEEN THERE
Forget Trump’s tariff warfare for a few moments and ponder on Sir Keir Starmer’s abject failure to conclude a good automotive export deal with Indian PM Narendra Modi, announced in the past week. This, hailed as “a big win” for the UK car industry, has left British manufacturers distinctly underwhelmed. It didn’t impress the Indians much either.
Mumbai’s BSE Sensex 30 and NSE Nifty 50 market indices reacted with respective 0.4% and 0.5% losses. Of the five leading Indian motorcycle manufacturers, four dropped in share price value. That’s probably not Starmer’s fault but we’ll blame him anyway.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 4230.70 | -3.8% | -2.1% |
| Bajaj Auto | 8075.50 | -3.3% | -4.3% |
| TVS Motor | 2774.40 | -2.6% | -5.6% |
| Eicher Motors | 5433.00 | -3.5% | -4% |
| Mahindra | 3246.40 | +1.7% | +1.3% |
CHINA — NOT WILDLY BOTHERED
While Trump’s troops are busy chewing the fat to finalise their key US-China trade deal, the Chinese have been counting their blessings. On 14 July, Beijing officials announced that the country’s total exports grew by a healthy 5.8% year-on-year in June. And in the first half of this year exports grew at the same pace as they did in 2024, helping to keep China’s GDP growth on track to meet its annual target.
China’s exporters seem to have shrugged off trade tension with America. How? Simply by shipping more goods to a wider selection of countries, “front-loading” extra goods shipments to the US, and re-monikering finished goods as “raw materials”, thereby under-reporting export values. Jolly good work if you can get away with it.
And Chinese stock market indices are healthy. In the past week, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and the blue-chip CSI 300 rose in unison by 1.7%. A majority of listed motorcycle producers added share value. What’s not to like?
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 16.45 | +2.7% | +10.3% |
| Zongshen | 23.63 | -0.8% | +7% |
| Sundiro | 4.80 | +1.7% | +6.6% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 12.67 | +1.9% | +3.3% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 8.48 | -1.4% | +0.1% |
| Loncin | 12.37 | -3.7% | -2% |
| Linhai | 11.33 | -0.8% | +5.5% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 7.76 | +1.4% | +3.7% |
| CFMoto | 227.51 | +6.2% | +6.7% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 12.55 | +0.7% | +2.2% |