Motorcycle sales | Honda on the up, Yamaha flatline so far in 2022

Honda and Yamaha have consolidated their statuses as two of the world’s biggest motorcycle manufacturers through 2022 , even if the Japanese powerhouses are enjoying differing fortunes in the sales charts.

Far and away the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world with a vast 28.5% share of the global market, Honda has begun positively on its quest to return to its record sales figures prior to COVID-19.

Having reached a new peak in its illustrious history by shifting an extraordinary 20 million motorcycles in 2019, Honda’s fortunes waned the following year in line with the industry slump prompted by COVID-19.

Though sales rebounded in 2021, Honda fell well short of its new record marker, even if it could still count a huge 16.8 million units over the course of the year.

With Honda using the fiscal year - start of April to the end of March - to tally its 12 month figures, rather than the calendar year, the Japanese firm has just finished its first quarter (April to June) having sold 4.251 million units, up almost 10% on the same period in 2021. 

It is therefore projecting annual sales of between 18-19 million units.

At the heart of the gains, according to British Dealer News, is a sizeable jump in the recovering Indian market where Honda sales rose by 11%, plus strong gains in Latin America.

These helped soften the impact on a disappointing 25% slide in Europe, as well as a 5% dip in Japan where Honda has been hampered by the ongoing semiconductor shortage.

Yamaha, meanwhile, will look to a stronger second-half of 2022 after sales remained flat at 2.306 million units, a minor drop of 0.3%.

This is despite a number of new Yamaha models coming into their first full year of sale, including the new R7 sportsbike, plus the MT-09 and MT-07 nakeds. Since then Yamaha has gone on to launch the updated R3 sportsbike in Asia, the XSR900 retro roadster, the new Tenere 700 World Raid and the MT-10 naked flagship.