A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 15 August 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — THE INFLATION NATION
American analyst expectations jumped all over the place during the past week. On Tuesday, Wall Street stocks climbed after headline US inflation during July had come in below estimates. And the rally extended to record highs with an ongoing lift for sentiment. But then a surprise jump in wholesale inflation data snapped this two-session winning streak and stocks began to fall as investors grew increasingly nervous about inflationary factors.
The result was mixed performances for market indices. The blue-chip S&P 500 weakened considerably to close only positive by 0.9% and NASDAQ’s Composite fared slightly worse, clinging on to a mere 0.8% gain. Contrarily, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.7% up and a spate of dip-buying speculation by chancers kept S&P’s MidCap 400 healthy with a 1.6% rise.
Among the players in that game, MidCap motorcycling punters pushed Harley-Davidson shares sharply higher — presumably having revised their opinions on Artie Starrs as Harley’s saving grace, new CEO due to take over in October and now betting heavily on his future. That tendency also appeared to boost Polaris stock in parallel.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 27.25 | +12.5% | +15.7% |
| Polaris Industries | 57.23 | +11.2% | +22.1% |
| Niu Technologies | 4.99 | +32% | +37.5% |
| LiveWire | 3.55 | +8.2% | -8.1% |
EUROPE — DRIVING THE DEAL VEHICLE
Donald Trump’s evident relaxation over his EU-US trade deal calmed troubled waters on our side of the Atlantic too. Eurozone automotives accrued value and key market indices grew comfortably positive. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax rose by 1.8%, the FTSE MIB in Milan put on 2.5% and the Wiener Börse ATX in Austria added 2.7%. KTM parent Pierer Mobility was a noticeable beneficiary of that.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 90.14 | +3.1% | +7.9% |
| Volkswagen | 102.00 | +4.4% | +10.5% |
| Pierer Mobility | 17.52 | +4.9% | -6.9% |
| Piaggio Group | 1.96 | 0.5% | +2.6% |
JAPAN — DUCKING OUT OF VIEW
Now tucked safely out of Trump’s tariff firing line, the Japanese kept their heads down and mouths shut, and Tokyo and Osaka’s Nikkei 225 market index staged a plump 3.7% gain. Post Q1 results, Honda and Yamaha stocks advanced modestly, but Suzuki and Kawasaki were mired in red ink.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1637.5 | +1.9% | +10.1% |
| Yamaha | 1086.5 | +0.6% | +2.7% |
| Suzuki | 1784 | -0.8% | +9.9% |
| Kawasaki | 10095 | -7.4% | +0.5% |
INDIA — FIGHTING BACK
Now facing 50% tariffs on all of its exports to the US, India is squaring up to the challenge remarkably — not that its government has much choice — and insists that it will continue to buy energy from Russia. Mumbai stock market indices are also impressively resilient. The S&P BSE Sensex closed on a 0.9% gain and the NSE’s Nifty 50 finished 1.1% up. Among Indian motorcycle manufacturing majors, only Bajaj Auto shares slipped into negativity.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 4708.10 | +2.4% | +7.1% |
| Bajaj Auto | 8213.50 | -0.2% | -1.6% |
| TVS Motor | 3020.30 | +1.7% | +6% |
| Eicher Motors | 5764.00 | +1.8% | +2.4% |
| Mahindra | 3265.40 | +3.9% | +2.3% |
CHINA — INSCRUTABLE AS EVER
Shanghai’s SSE Composite and the CSI 300 market indices continued to trade in an air of studied normality, with respective rises of 1.7% and 2.4%. Chinese President Xi Jinping has yet to square up to Donald Trump and his minions. Among our ten tracked Chinese motorcycle manufacturer listings, only two incurred losses in the past week — Honda JV affiliate Sundiro and Yamaha affiliate Linhai.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 17.21 | +3.1% | +7.5% |
| Zongshen | 24.92 | +2.8% | +4.6% |
| Sundiro | 4.50 | -3.8% | -4.7% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 14.53 | +14.5% | +16.99% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 10.16 | +10.2% | +18.1% |
| Loncin | 13.83 | +3.2% | +7.7% |
| Linhai | 11.46 | -3.8% | +0.4% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 7.55 | +0.3% | -1.3% |
| CFMoto | 285.93 | +12.2% | +33.5% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 13.03 | +0.4% | +4.6% |