A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 26 September 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — TRUMP INJECTS ANOTHER TARIFF ATTACK
New York market indices ran ragged around the edges after big-league pharmaceutical stocks took a massive hit. The driving force was Donald Trump’s sudden announcement of 100 per cent tariff impositions on US imports of branded or patented drugs. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average, respectively, turned negative by 0.4% and 0.3%. NASDAQ’s Composite dropped by 0.7% and the S&P MidCap 400 closed 0.5% down.
Among MidCap biker stocks, Harley-Davidson and its LiveWire electrified spin-off were also feeling the pain of falling share prices as their board-room refreshment became imminent. New Harley CEO Artie Starrs, who previously specialised in golf equipment and pizza restaurant management, is about to grasp the motorcycling reins on 1 October, along with a pair of newly recruited independent directors equally lacking in two-wheeled experience. Investors are not overtly impressed…
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 28.21 | -1% | -1.9% |
| Polaris Industries | 58.93 | +6.9% | +4.2% |
| Niu Technologies | 4.64 | +7.4% | +6.1% |
| LiveWire | 4.70 | -10.6% | +22% |
EUROPE — LURKING CHINESE COMPETITORS
Key eurozone equities indices remained mildly positive. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax finished 0.4% up while the Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB in Milan added 0.8%. However, among the German automotives with biker sidelines, behaviour was uneven. BMW shares added value, but Volkswagen conspicuously nose-dived. The explanation was obvious. The latter’s domestic electric saloon car market presence is being hugely undermined by much cheaper competition from Chinese imports, despite the tariff obstructions they face. Elsewhere, on the Wiener Börse in Austria, KTM parent Pierer’s recovery isn’t going too well either, with its share price decidedly erratic. And in Italy, where the automotive market is generally robust, Piaggio’s PTW business isn’t an attractive proposition.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 85.74 | +3% | -4.2% |
| Volkswagen | 92.60 | -5.8% | -9.4% |
| Pierer Mobility | 14.20 | -10.7% | -13.5% |
| Piaggio Group | 1.95 | -5.3% | -2% |
JAPAN — TOYING WITH TARIFFS
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index picked up in the past week, rising to close on 0.7% positivity despite ongoing political distractions. However, US tariff issues are increasingly unavoidable, too. Latest news on that front includes Honda and other manufacturers ceasing production of certain automotive models assembled in the US, which depend on parts sourced from Japan. However, the impact of such moves apparently hasn’t discouraged domestic investors yet, as they consistently support the four indigenous biker brands.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1650 | +1.2% | +0.5% |
| Yamaha | 1121.5 | +1.4% | +4% |
| Suzuki | 2226 | +4.4% | +12.9% |
| Kawasaki | 9723 | +2.8% | +7.7% |
INDIA — TURNAROUND A DISTANT PROPOSITION?
Assailed by US tariffs without prospect of solution, Mumbai’s Bombay Stock Exchange S&P BSE Sensex 30 and the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty 50 indices failed to conceal investor reluctance during the past week, significantly falling in unison by 2.7%. And four of India’s five major motorcycle manufacturing brands couldn’t avoid declining share prices. Only Royal Enfield parent Eicher continued to accrue value. TVS Motor bucked the trend in another sense, though, going on a buying spree in Italy to acquire long-established motorcycle development specialist Engines Engineering.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 5328.00 | -1.5% | +4.7% |
| Bajaj Auto | 8702.00 | -3% | +0.8% |
| TVS Motor | 3414.40 | -3.3% | +4.2% |
| Eicher Motors | 7047.00 | +1.1% | +15.4% |
| Mahindra | 3396.50 | -5.4% | +6.2% |
CHINA — MARKING TIME
Although the Chinese government is keen to encourage exporting investors, they’re not entirely consistent. Trading on Shanghai’s all-share SSE Composite index during the past week only increased by 0.2%, while CSI 300 blue-chips added 1%. However, the ten listed Chinese motorcycle producers did better, with seven of them boasting share price gains. Quite why Qianli — formerly known as Lifan — did so remarkably well is a mystery.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 16.81 | -2.8% | -1.1% |
| Zongshen | 24.95 | +3.5% | -3.1% |
| Sundiro | 5.14 | +2.6% | +13.2% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 14.06 | +1.4% | -4% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 13.15 | +14.3% | +11.3% |
| Loncin | 12.14 | +2.8% | -4% |
| Linhai | 10.61 | -0.8% | -1.1% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 7.55 | -2.6% | -3.8% |
| CFMoto | 275.04 | +2.1% | +3.1% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 12.17 | -0.8% | -6.2% |