A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 17 October 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — PICK AND CHOOSE
President Trump mulled over a possibly extended truce in his US-China trade war, so Wall Street market indices were fairly mixed. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average respectively closed 1.7% and 1.6% up, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite got a 2.1% boost thanks to further positive news on the artificial intelligence boom.
Most interesting for S&P’s MidCap 400 was a 2% surge helping to lift the biker stocks therein, in response to Carolwood LP’s putative $500 million private equity buy-out for the Indian Motorcycle business. Polaris Industries, which is jettisoning this subsidiary, enjoyed a tremendous 18.2% weekly hike for its share price and was 20.7% up in value for the month. Shares in Harley-Davidson, which has been the victim of lacklustre investor interest for some time, staged a minor recovery, and its LiveWire electric bike spin-off was an even stronger beneficiary — though both are expected to reveal lamentably weak Q3 data in early November. Indeed, Harley may prove to be the next Carolwood target.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 26.74 | +2.6% | -6.1% |
| Polaris Industries | 66.52 | +18.2% | +20.7% |
| Niu Technologies | 4.20 | -11% | -2.8% |
| LiveWire | 5.08 | +13.1% | -3.4% |
EUROPE — BANK WOES TO THE FORE
A stream of fresh concerns about the US banking system spread to Europe, with Deutsche Bank shares falling by 6.1% and the UK’s Barclays 5.7% down. Market indices were inevitably impacted. In Germany, the Dax Xetra slumped by 1.7% and Milan’s FTSE MIB clung onto only 0.8% positivity. Although biker-related German automotives BMW and Volkswagen held on, Italy’s scooter giant Piaggio lost value. And in Austria, the Wiener Börse ATX sank by 1.9%. KTM parent Pierer Mobility was another loser, 3.9% down.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 80.22 | +2.2% | -3.7% |
| Volkswagen | 92.50 | +1.8% | -5.9% |
| Pierer Mobility | 13.40 | -3.9% | -15.7% |
| Piaggio Group | 1.97 | -1.5% | -4.4% |
JAPAN — KAMIKAZE CLUES?
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock index surge petered out, turning negative by 1.1%, as Japanese prime ministerial candidate Takaichi Sanae had to fight in her corner versus LDP political challengers with increasing vigour. As for Japan’s four big motorcycle-related brands, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki will shortly be revealing half-yearly (Q2) results and Yamaha already faces question marks over its Q3 prospects. Minus signs hovering over their share prices are becoming more abundant.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1517.5 | -2.5% | -7% |
| Yamaha | 1083.5 | -1.5% | -2.1% |
| Suzuki | 2210 | -1.2% | +3.7% |
| Kawasaki | 9728 | +0.1% | +2.9% |
INDIA — GOOD NEWS WEEK
Mumbai’s S&P BSE Sensex 30 market index rose by 1.8%, trailed slightly by a 1.7% gain for the compting NSE Nifty 50. All five indigenous motorcycle manufacturing majors counted rising stock prices. The most satisfactory shout came in the shape of a lavish UK Financial Times spread concluding the week on 17 October for TVS Motor. Not only did this boast a 35% Q2 profit boom to the equivalent of $88m, but also revelations of a plan to be selling about 20,000 “luxury” Norton motorcycles annually by 2028, many of them destined for the US market and constituting a “global” brand. An image of the late, great Stanley Woods winning the 1932 Senior TT astride a “garden-gate” Norton accompanied this puff piece.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 5592.50 | +1.7% | +3.4% |
| Bajaj Auto | 9150.50 | +2.2% | +1.9% |
| TVS Motor | 3654.00 | +4.7% | +3.5% |
| Eicher Motors | 7042.50 | +1.1% | +0.9% |
| Mahindra | 3647.20 | +5.5% | +1.5% |
CHINA — BATTLE LINES DRAWN
Although it looks like a temporary stand-off between Donald Trump and Xi JInping’s tariff warfare is in place, Chinese equities markets also suggested raw nerves. Shanghai’s SSE Composite all-share index noticeably closed the past week 1.5% in arrears. The blue-chip CSI 300 index spanning Shanghai and Shenzhen borses was even weaker, 2.2% down. Among the ten exchange-listed Chinese motorcycle producers, more than half of them suffered sinking share prices.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 16.56 | -6.4% | -4.3% |
| Zongshen | 23.62 | -5.5% | -2% |
| Sundiro | 5.73 | +2.3% | +14.4% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 13.23 | -6.8% | -4.5% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 11.39 | -3.6% | -0.9% |
| Loncin | 13.76 | +9.3% | +10.2% |
| Linhai | 10.39 | -1.5% | -2.9% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 7.71 | +0.9% | -0.5% |
| CFMoto | 233.09 | -12.9% | -13.5% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 12.09 | -0.8% | -1.5% |