SHARE PRICES AND MARKET ANALYSIS

A snapshot of key motorcycle industry share performance at the trading closure on 23 January.

USA
As an air of desperation spread through Harley-Davidson’s management ranks from December through into January, desperately eager to recruit fresh specialists capable of reviving the brand, the company’s share price virtually flat-lined either side of an approximate 21-buck marker. From a relatively high point of $21.25 on 19 December, it had sunk to $20.44 by the 31 December year-end, sat at $20.52 on 6 January and drifted lower again to $20.49 on 16 January and then $19.95 on 20 January.

Harley’s electric bike spin-off LiveWire, additionally afflicted by the demise of EV subsidies under the Trump administration’s dislike of gasoline dodgers, took a fairly parallel price hammering in the same time frame. Nailed at $4.80 on 19 December, it had dropped to $4.43 by the year-end, was down to $3.69 by 6 January, and $2.73 by 16 January.

Polaris Industries, having sold off its Indian Motorcycle business to big-league Californian private equity firm Carolwood LP, is now confined to producing side-by-side sporting and utility off-road vehicles, ATVs and snowmobiles. And it has to be said that investors in the sector were not mightily impressed by this disposal, knocking the Polaris share price down sharply to $59.83 on 19 November last year as a reaction to the news. But a gradual recovery has inevitably occurred, given the Polaris sporting ORV reputation. Brock Heger and Max Eddy have also just claimed their second consecutive Dakar victory aboard a factory-prepped Polaris RZR Pro R Rally, which should help boost sales too. However, speculating investors shouldn’t waste their time waiting for an Indian Motorcycle share listing. Carolwood is committed to growing through acquisitions as a purely private entity – in this case, as an obvious challenger to Harley-Davidson.

EUROPE
the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer parent company Pierer Mobility formally ceased to exist on 13 January, when Indian motorcycle manufacturing giant Bajaj Auto International Holdings BV acquired a 74.9% majority stake in KTM and full control of the business.

Remonikered as Bajaj Mobility, this new entity acquired a token float listing on Zurich’s Six Exchange with a share price of 14.72 Swiss Francs. Simultaneously, Bajaj Mobility was floated on Frankfurt’s Eurozone Xetra Dax with a token €16.14 share price. By 21 January, the Dax price had declined slightly to €16.10, probably because availability was too thin on the ground.

Bajaj Mobility will henceforth serve as the holding company for KTM Group’s KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas motorcycle brands, with a significantly reduced workforce at its Mattighofen HQ in Austria (staff cuts in the region of 500 personnel). Gottfried Neumeister, who took over from KTM Group founder Stefan Pierer as chief executive, will remain in that role until 2028, reporting to the Bajaj Auto parent in India. And he has agreed to step down from all other functions outside the Group in the near future.

Since the beginning of 2026, Piaggio Group has had a fairly grim time. Its share price on Milan’s Borsa Italiana has struggled to climb out of the gutter, only peaking twice at modest €1.86 highs – on 9 January and 14 January – before slumping back down to €1.80 on 21 January. Lamentable production and sales performances at its Far Eastern operations are held largely to blame.

JAPAN
On 13 January, Japanese prime minister Takaichi Sanae let slip speculation that she was planning a snap general election in early February. In response, Japanese stocks surged to an all-time high, and the yen tumbled to a 19-month low – the Japanese business community loves a cheap currency. Shares on the Nikkei 225 Average index jumped by 3.1% while the yen weakened to 159 against the US dollar.

Honda shares surged to peak at ¥1654.50. Yamaha hit ¥1284 on the day in question. Suzuki similarly stacked on immediate value to ¥2346.50 and eventually reached ¥2397. Kawasaki at first nodded on ¥13,500 before peaking at ¥14,590 and hanging on to most of its gains (which weren’t driven by its Powersports division anyway). Briefly, there were a lot of happy smiling faces around. But with an 8 February election date now in sight, sensible sentiment set in, and so did a spot of sell-off.

INDIA
Bajaj Auto has now become the first Indian motorcycle manufacturing giant to establish any sort of share listing in Europe, through its Bajaj Mobility presence. TVS Motor cannot be far behind, given its UK manufacturing arrival under the Norton brand. Royal Enfield parent Eicher Motors has asserted a powerful British and international growth trajectory.

And Indian market leader Hero MotoCorp has begun to invade European markets with dedicated products. Even Mahindra, which principally stands aloof as the world’s largest manufacturer of agricultural tractors and other farming equipment, has entered the European biker fray with its retro BSA brand. And we have to ask ourselves how long it will take them all to cash in with specific foreign share listings. For the time being on home turf, as they all enter their annual Q4 fiscal rump, only Bajaj is basking in its global venture.

CHINA
Stock market listings in China are common, mostly through Shanghai’s extensive SSE Composite platform. But a large number appertaining to motorcycle production are stooges for companies actually controlled by the State – in other words, the Chinese Communist Party. Listed private enterprises are relatively rare, selling both into their domestic market and as extremely active prime exporters, their brands are familiar in the UK and Europe.

Qianjiang is a leading example, trading via its ownership of the formerly Italian Benelli brand, as well as its own Keeway and QJ Motor brands, distributed in the UK by MotoGB. Zongshen is another, with a well-established UK distribution relationship through Lexmoto.

And, in addition to visibility in the UK ATV market, Loncin has recently expanded its UK motorcycle reach through its Voge “luxury” subsidiary, again involving MotoGB. Finally, after severing a production and distribution relationship with Bajaj Mobility and the KTM Group, as part of the latter’s realignment, CFMoto has returned to UK distribution with a Quadzilla tie-up.