After 7 Billion in Traffic, What Does the Chinese Motorcycle Industry Still Lack?

Peanut has been reporting on motorcycles for nearly a decade. To be honest, this session of the Motorcycle Expo is the most "prosperous" one I've seen — abundant attention, abundant traffic, abundant capital.

4-day exhibition, 300,000 visitor visits, 860 media outlets, 2058 reporters attended, 7.065 billion topic impressions online. 1,120 companies exhibited, 3,100 motorcycle models showcased, scale hit a historic high. These figures count as a grand spectacle in any industry.

All media outlets nationwide showed up. Not just vertical motorcycle media, but bloggers in finance, current affairs, and lifestyle also flooded in. Even among the top three state media peers, I met quite a few.

"We've never fought such a resource-rich battle." An interviewee told me with a hoarse voice, the attention from various media is already overwhelming.

Traffic is a good thing. 300,000 people flooded into Chongqing, 7 billion topic impressions flooded the feeds, showing that motorcycles are finally being seen.

But what happens after being seen?

Whether technical investment is real, whether road rights issues can be pushed, whether going global can go deeper and become substantive. These are the keys deciding how far Chinese motorcycles can go.

This Motorcycle Expo was very lively, this is a good start.

01. Where Does the Traffic Come From, and Why Has the Status Changed?

Zhang Xue winning the championship was a node. Since then, motorcycles suddenly changed from a "substitute for cars that people can't afford" in some people's eyes to a label of "New Quality Productive Forces", became entertainment tools, became stories that capital is willing to hear.

Wu Huacng, Chairman of Like Motorcycle with 39 years of industry experience, made an observation: Motorcycle development in a country goes from a poverty alleviation tool, to a transportation tool, to an entertainment tool. Chinese motorcycles are finishing this three-step jump — previously overseas consumers bought Chinese for their first car, switched to Japan or Italy when they got rich; now, the first, second, and third cars can all be Chinese-made.

There is another more important signal. In June this year, Premier Li Qiang publicly mentioned the "Chongqing Motorcycle 1-Hour Industrial Circle" at the Summer Davos Forum. This was the first time a major leader of the Party and state spoke about motorcycles in an international setting. From being marginalized to being named by the highest level, the status of motorcycles has indeed changed.

Data also confirms this change. From January to August 2026, Chongqing motorcycle production reached 7.776 million units, a year-on-year increase of 50.5%. One out of every three motorcycles produced nationwide is made in Chongqing. Large-displacement leisure motorcycles produced 275,000 units, up 54.5%; electric motorcycle production was 3.127 million units, up 63%. In 2025, national production of large-displacement leisure motorcycles above 250cc exceeded 950,000 units, far exceeding the industry average growth rate.

Capital is also entering the market. In December 2024, Zongshen joined hands with Chongqing state-owned Yuful Holdings to acquire Loncin General (603766.SH) for 5.461 billion yuan, becoming the largest M&A case in the Chinese motorcycle industry; in August 2026, Yadea invested 1.002 billion yuan to fully acquire Golden Arrow Electric Two-wheelers. Industry concentration is rising rapidly, small players are finding it harder, and the voice of leading enterprises is getting louder.

This wave of traffic far surpasses the 2022 wave of domestic demand for "releasing self-passion". Players are different, focus points are different, even the people watching motorcycles are different.

But traffic comes, and then what? Besides traffic and capital, what does the Chinese motorcycle industry need? In Peanut's view, can technical investment be sustained, and has intelligent spillover landed?

02. Can Technical Investment Be Sustained, and Has Intelligent Spillover Landed?

Li Yao, Chairman of Loncin General Power, said at the forum that one of the characteristics of the new cycle is "from assembly manufacturing to Chinese Intelligent Manufacturing".

In the early days, Chinese motorcycles copied shapes, bought carburetors, and competed on supply chains. Now it's different — cornering ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), Electronic Torque Control, Blind Spot Monitoring, automotive intelligent capabilities are spilling over to motorcycles.

Intelligent capabilities forged out of the automotive industry competition are spilling over to motorcycles. This is the luck of motorcycles, and also the luck of China's manufacturing industry.

Racing is the most direct touchstone for technical investment. New forces like Zhang Xue Motorcycle won championships in world-class events just a few years after founding, then fed track technology back into consumer vehicles. Kove followed the same path — running Dakar, running WSBK (World Superbike Championship), won WSBK Three Norths Group World Championship in 2025, won three sub-race championships at Dakar in January 2026, only 5 brands in the world can win Dakar.

Kove GM Zhao Hong said a down-to-earth truth: "Chinese motorcycles have moved from quantitative overseas expansion to quality overseas expansion, we waited 20 years for this." In his view, racing is not promotional expense, but part of R&D — "Truly make racing part of your R&D, turn racing into part of product iteration and upgrades, this is long-term assets."

20 years of technical accumulation earned today's results. This logic makes sense, now we see actual effects and investment. After the heat subsides, whether companies are willing to throw real money into R&D is the true touchstone.

03. Can the Ice of Road Rights Melt, and Who Will Pay for the Non-standard Chaos?

This is what Peanut cares about most, and also where traffic should play its role.

In the old cycle, the motorcycle industry was marginalized and suppressed: bans/restrictions on motorcycles in cities, no road rights on highways, 10% consumption tax. In the new cycle, motorcycles are livelihood, entertainment products, and part of a better life. Some cities have started to relax bans/restrictions on motorcycles, and the motorcycle industry has been listed as an advantageous characteristic industry.

Liu Xin, Vice President of the China Motorcycle Chamber of Commerce, listed a series of industry demands at the forum: Scientific optimization of bans/restrictions on motorcycles, improvement of highway access rights, optimization of the 13-year scrappage policy, adjustment of motorcycle consumption tax brackets. Each one is a stone pressing down on the motorcycle industry.

Unfortunately, problems caused by non-standard electric bicycles. Those non-standard electric bikes that speed, exceed weight limits, and are illegally modified rush recklessly on the roads. When accidents happen, the bill is charged to motorcycles. The legal ones take the blame for the illegal ones; this is the biggest grievance of the industry.

Traffic has come, attention has increased. Can these issues be brought to the table? Can the public and decision-makers see that motorcycles are fundamentally a legal travel mode and lifestyle?

After all, suppressed travel demand will not disappear, only appear in more dangerous ways.

04. How to Answer the Great Test of Going Global, When Will the System Shortcomings Be Made Up?

Nowadays, Chinese motorcycle products are getting stronger, technology is getting newer, there is an opportunity to walk global again, so how to seize the opportunity?

In 2025, China exported 13.36 million motorcycle complete vehicles, export value $8.85 billion, quantity and price rose together. Domestic sales were only over 5 million units, exports are already more than double the domestic market.

Good news is, Chinese brands have taken root in high-end markets. Voge, under Loncin, achieved a license plate ownership rate of 5.79% in Europe's top 5 markets (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, UK), becoming the first Chinese company to break 5%, ranking only behind Honda and BMW.

But Roland Berger Global Partner Xu Huxiong poured cold water: "Going global for two-wheeler players is not a multiple-choice question for growth, but a must-answer question for development."

The meaning of must-answer question is, not doing it is not an option, but doing it doesn't guarantee success.

Domestic two-wheeler capacity utilization is below the national average, domestic sales peaked in 2023 and have been fluctuating since. The domestic market is only so big, what to do if not going global? But going global isn't just selling cars — after-sales service, local operations, brand building, compliance risks, exchange rate fluctuations, each one is a pit.

Keeway Group VP Bao Zhengqin said, the biggest challenge is after-sales service. New players cannot catch up with the service capabilities of local established brands overnight.

Zhao Hong's judgment was more direct: "For the first 20 years, we went global to sell products, in the second half we should go global to build organizational systems."

Gao He Capital Founding Partner He Yuhua pointed out a deeper problem from a capital perspective: Chinese enterprises lack global capital handles going abroad. For example, in Indonesia, Yamaha holds 90% market share, earning not just money from cars, but also from the financial system supported by local high interest rates. "We can't earn value from this area."

Some global brands sell not just cars, but financial and other bundled derivative services. This requires brand and system construction.

Pessimists see risks, optimists see the future.

Right during the Motorcycle Expo, the "Global Motorcycle Production and Supply Chain Economic and Trade Cooperation Matchmaking Conference" was also held. Over 110 international buyers from key global markets like Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and over 200 Chinese enterprises talked face-to-face, released 133 procurement demands, held 495 matchmaking sessions, with intended procurement amount reaching $420 million. The road to go out is getting wider and wider.

From product going global to brand going global, then to system going global, capital going global, for Chinese motorcycles, the road is long and arduous.

Text | Li Xiyin · Peanut

Editor | Hei Song