A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 29 August 2025. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — CORE INFLATION ACCELERATES
After a fairly erratic week, Wall Street ended negatively following the release of inflation data that underscored investors’ fears about the direction of interest rate cuts. Banking analysts pointedly noted that the US Federal Reserve expects tariff-related price pressures to exert further upward pressure on core inflation, while creating an obstruction to the central bank cutting its benchmark interest rate — which President Trump is aggressively demanding.
However, market indices’ closure movements were relatively minor, with 0.2% declines for the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ Composite. S&P’s MidCap 400 fell by a marginal 0.1%. MidCap biker stocks mostly suffered losses or, in Harley-Davidson’s case, a very weak gain.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 28.75 | +1.3% | +16.9% |
| Polaris Industries | 56.58 | -2.3% | +12.6% |
| Niu Technologies | 4.37 | -3.5% | +12.9% |
| LiveWire | 3.85 | -15% | -9% |
EUROPE — TRUMP TARIFF TINKERING JITTERS
Eurozone nerves were increasingly on their edge as Washington reviewed the impact (or otherwise) of its “reciprocal” tariff base after the US Federal Appeal Court judged the whole lot to be essentially illegal. Nevertheless, they will remain in place until October, when Trump plans to challenge this decision through ultimate arbitration of the US Supreme Court.
Leading European stock market indices took a hammering in response. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax fell by 1.9% and the FTSE MIB in Milan finished 2.4% down. Austria’s Wiener Börse ATX dived by 3.5%. Motorcycle-related automotive shares all lost value.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 89.46 | -2.2% | +0.5% |
| Volkswagen | 102.20 | -2.6% | -0.3% |
| Pierer Mobility | 16.42 | -5% | -10.2% |
| Piaggio Group | 1.99 | -1.5% | -1% |
JAPAN — A WAITING GAME
Although Japan’s dominant Nikkei 225 stock index spanning the Tokyo and Osaka exchanges crept back into 0.2% positivity, the four big indigenous brands with motorcycling connections weren’t invited to any positivity surge, all of them mired in red ink, as Trump’s legal tariff challenge went global.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1642 | -2.2% | +1.3% |
| Yamaha | 1078 | -0.6% | -3.5% |
| Suzuki | 1971 | -0.6% | +19.1% |
| Kawasaki | 9025 | -5% | -16.9% |
INDIA — MONEY TOO TIGHT TO MENTION
Trump’s 50% tariff on Indian goods exported to the US came into effect in the past week, dragging the Indian rupee to a new record low against the US dollar. Although data released a day later showed India’s GDP for the April to June quarter grew by 7.8% year-on-year, beating expectations, commentators accepted that the US tariff wall was about to block further growth. The Reserve Bank of India desperately sold dollars to support the rupee. Quite what the medium and long-term impact will be for India’s huge motorcycle industry currently remains opaque.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 5087.70 | +1.8% | +20.3% |
| Bajaj Auto | 8631.50 | -0.6% | +6.9% |
| TVS Motor | 3276.60 | -0.5% | +18.1% |
| Eicher Motors | 6103.00 | +3% | +12.3% |
| Mahindra | 3199.50 | -6% | -1.4% |
CHINA — BEST FRIENDS GATHER
While Trump continued to rattle the cages of all and sundry, many of them weren’t listening. Indian premier Narendra Modi was visiting China for the first time in seven years, where he pledged with Chinese president Xi Jinping that their two countries would henceforth be “partners not rivals”. This jollification took place at an SCO summit in the Shanghai port of Tianjin. Star turn was Russian president Vladimir Putin joining the throng.
The gathering helped to boost Chinese equities activity remarkably. Shanghai and Shenzhen’s blue-chip CSI 300 index rose by 2.7%. It didn’t do much for biker stocks, though. These visitors were probably keener on buying bombs.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 16.99 | -1.4% | +3.3% |
| Zongshen | 25.74 | -0.6% | +8.9% |
| Sundiro | 4.54 | +0.8% | -5.4% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 14.65 | +2% | +15.6% |
| Qianli (Lifan) | 11.82 | +8.1% | +39.4% |
| Loncin | 12.64 | -5.1% | +2.2% |
| Linhai | 10.81 | -7.1% | -4.6% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 7.85 | -0.5% | +1.2% |
| CFMoto | 266.69 | -4.1% | +17.2% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 12.98 | -4.9% | +3.4% |