Upgrading to Drive Quality and Efficiency In 2025, against the backdrop of a complex and ever-changing global economy, China's motorcycle industry delivered an impressive annual performance. According to the latest data released by the China Motorcycle Chamber of Commerce, the industry achieved significant improvements across multiple dimensions including production and sales scale, structural optimization, export expansion, and economic efficiency. It exhibited distinct characteristics of "steady growth, structural differentiation, and improved profitability," marking a successful conclusion to the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
Dual Engines of Exports and Domestic Demand Drive Sales Beyond 22 Million Units
In 2025, China's motorcycle production and sales both grew by over 10% year-on-year. This achievement was primarily attributed to the strong performance of the export market and structural growth in the domestic market.
Data shows that from January to December 2025, China's motorcycle production and sales reached 22.1093 million units and 21.9677 million units respectively, representing year-on-year growth of 10.69% and 10.25%. This result was mainly driven by the robust performance of the export market and structural growth in the domestic market. Looking at the monthly trend, the industry continued its growth momentum in December 2025, with single-month production and sales increasing by over 9% month-on-month and over 10% year-on-year, providing a strong finish to the year. Notably, single-month exports in December 2025 hit an annual high, indicating sustained strong demand in overseas markets. Data source: China Motorcycle Chamber of Commerce (Unit: 10,000 units)
From January to December 2025, domestic motorcycle sales were 8.602 million units, down 3.45% year-on-year. Domestic sales of fuel-powered motorcycles were 5.1449 million units, a decrease of 6.18% year-on-year. Specifically, two-wheeled motorcycle production and sales were 19.3105 million and 19.1644 million units respectively, growing 10.83% and 10.32% year-on-year. Large-displacement recreational motorcycles (above 250cc, excluding 250cc) recorded production and sales of 953,700 and 952,300 units, surging 23.3% and 25.87% year-on-year. Three-wheeled motorcycle production and sales were 2.7987 million and 2.8033 million units, up 9.73% and 9.75% year-on-year.
In terms of power type, fuel-powered motorcycles still dominate the market. From January to December 2025, fuel-powered motorcycle production and sales were 18.4975 million and 18.4615 million units, growing 11.65% and 12.16% year-on-year, slightly higher than the industry average. This performance challenges the simplistic expectation of a "shrinking fuel vehicle market," reflecting that fuel-powered motorcycles maintain strong vitality through product structure optimization amidst consumption upgrading.
The electric motorcycle market experienced a recovery growth after adjustments. From January to December 2025, electric motorcycle production and sales were 3.6118 million and 3.5062 million units, increasing 6.03% and 1.14% year-on-year. Although the growth rate was relatively moderate, the market foundation for electric motorcycles, as a crucial direction for industrial transformation, is steadily solidifying. Especially under the comprehensive implementation of the new national standards, the safety and compliance of electric motorcycle products have significantly improved, laying a solid foundation for the industry's long-term healthy development.
Intensified Market Structure and Widespread Consumption Upgrading
The most prominent feature of the motorcycle market in 2025 was the intensification of structural differentiation, with the trend of consumption upgrading evident throughout the year.
Large-displacement recreational motorcycles became the biggest highlight of the year. From January to December 2025, production and sales of large-displacement recreational motorcycles (above 250cc) reached 953,700 and 952,300 units, surging 23.3% and 25.87% year-on-year, far exceeding the industry average growth rate. This data clearly indicates that motorcycles are accelerating their transformation from traditional commuting tools to lifestyle carriers for recreation and entertainment.
Examining by model type, the characteristics of structural growth are apparent. As the model with the largest market share, cross-type motorcycles sold 11.426 million units from January to December 2025, a year-on-year increase of 15.02%, accounting for 59.62% of total two-wheeler sales, an increase compared to the previous year. Underbone motorcycles performed most impressively, with annual sales of 2.1831 million units, surging 28.26% year-on-year, the highest growth rate among all categories. Scooter sales were 5.5545 million units for the year, down 3.15% year-on-year, making it the only category with negative growth, reflecting structural adjustments in the demand for practical commuting models.
The three-wheeled motorcycle market showed a differentiated landscape. From January to December 2025, three-wheeled motorcycle production and sales were 2.7987 million and 2.8033 million units, up 9.73% and 9.75% year-on-year. Among them, ordinary freight three-wheelers sold 2.2013 million units, up 4.31% year-on-year. Ordinary passenger three-wheelers sold 563,900 units, surging 30.61% year-on-year, becoming one of the fastest-growing segments. This divergence reflects the continuous growth in passenger transport demand in rural and peri-urban areas.
Consolidated and Intensified Competitive Landscape
In terms of enterprise competition, market concentration remains high while competition between established players and new entrants intensifies.
In the fuel-powered motorcycle sector, traditional giants maintain solid positions. From January to December 2025, the combined market share of the top ten enterprises by sales volume remained high. Dachangjiang topped the list with sales of 2.6867 million units, followed by Loncin (隆鑫) and Zongshen with sales of 1.5783 million and 1.1392 million units respectively. Most of the top ten enterprises achieved year-on-year sales growth, demonstrating the strong resilience of leading companies.
In the electric motorcycle sector, the pattern of "dual-track competition" became clearer. Yadea Technology Group led significantly with sales of 921,100 units, followed by Zhejiang Luyuan with 591,500 units in second place. Notably, traditional motorcycle enterprises are also beginning to make their mark in the electric field: Zongshen ranked third with 465,100 units, CFMOTO (春风动力) ranked fifth with 300,300 units, and Loncin also made it into the top ten. This pattern indicates that the electric motorcycle track is becoming the main battlefield for competition between established players and new entrants.
Exports Hit Record High with Notable Structural Optimization
In 2025, China's motorcycle export performance was particularly outstanding, with the export market displaying distinct characteristics of "volume and price rising together, structural optimization, and regional differentiation."
In 2025, China's motorcycle export performance was particularly outstanding, becoming the core engine driving industry growth. According to annual statistics from the China Motorcycle Chamber of Commerce, the export market exhibited clear features of "simultaneous increase in volume and value, structural optimization, and regional differentiation."
Annual exports reached a record high. From January to December 2025, motorcycle manufacturers exported 13.3657 million complete vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 21.33%; the export value reached $8.85 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26.78%. The sustained higher growth rate of export value compared to export volume indicates that China's motorcycle exports are shifting from "scale expansion" to "value enhancement." The single-month export performance in December 2025 was particularly strong, with exports of 1.2381 million units, up 12.34% month-on-month and 17.52% year-on-year, setting a new annual monthly high and providing a powerful finish to the year.
The export structure by displacement continued to optimize. Looking at the displacement distribution, traditional strong products coexisted with new growth points: The 125 series exported 4.3869 million units annually, up 31.86%, remaining the largest export product series; the 150 series exported 3.7168 million units, up 8.31%, maintaining stable growth; the 110 series exported 1.6749 million units, surging 29.78% year-on-year, becoming one of the fastest-growing series; the 200 series exported 1.3369 million units, up 27.26%, showing strong growth potential; the 250 series exported 385,600 units, up 1.04%, steadily expanding in the high-end market; the 50 series declined by 6.23%.
It is worth noting that the combined exports of these six major series reached 11.8773 million units, accounting for 93.32% of total two-wheeled motorcycle exports, demonstrating the high concentration of China's motorcycle export products. Meanwhile, three-wheeled motorcycle exports performed well, with annual exports of 644,200 units, up 25.12% year-on-year, becoming an important supplement to export growth.
Regional market performance diverged, with emerging markets experiencing rapid growth. Combining customs data, China's motorcycle exports in 2025 showed clear regional characteristics: Latin America remained the largest export market, with export volume of 6.6861 million units, up 10.78% year-on-year; Africa became the fastest-growing market, with export volume of 5.9596 million units, surging 59.09% year-on-year, and export value increasing by 63.52%; other markets also maintained good growth momentum in regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East, driven by the Belt and Road Initiative.
Enterprise export concentration is relatively high. From January to December 2025, the top ten enterprises by export volume together exported 8.2125 million units, accounting for 61.44% of total motorcycle exports. Leading enterprises like Dachangjiang, Loncin, and Guangdong Daye (广东大冶) continued to spearhead export growth, demonstrating the cluster advantage of China's motorcycle industry in global competition.
Significant Improvement in Economic Efficiency and Substantial Increase in Profitability
From January to November 2025, the profit growth rate of motorcycle manufacturers far exceeded their revenue growth, reflecting a substantial improvement in the industry's operational quality.
Compared to the steady growth in production and sales data, the improvement in industry economic efficiency was even more pronounced. Data from January to November 2025 shows that motorcycle manufacturers achieved operating revenue of 146.209 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.80%; total profits reached 11.418 billion yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 37.73%; total profits and taxes amounted to 14.812 billion yuan, up 33.14% year-on-year.
The profit growth rate far exceeding the revenue growth rate reflects a substantive enhancement in the industry's operational quality. Analysis suggests this is mainly due to three factors: first, the increase in added value brought by product structure optimization, with a higher proportion of large-displacement, high-value-added models; second, enhanced cost control capabilities, with operating cost growth lower than revenue growth; third, rising export product prices, with export value growth consistently higher than export volume growth.
R&D investment maintained stable growth. From January to November 2025, the industry's total R&D expenses reached 4.342 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.32%. Leading enterprises were particularly active in R&D investment, providing technological support to maintain their competitive edge in the electrification and intelligent transformation. Enterprises like Zongshen, CFMOTO, and Loncin not only maintain technological leadership in traditional fields but are also accelerating their layout in emerging technology areas such as electrification and intelligence.
