For any youthful country with a history of decades-long consistent and stable growth, personal mobility emerges as the most in-demand thing. And if the mobility factor also becomes a contributor to the local economy and the gross domestic product (GDP) growth, like the use of its horsepower in various contraptions like tuk-tuk, it gets more value addition.
According to the market data, the Cambodian motorcycle market revenue by the end of this year (2022) is expected to touch $141.30 million and is likely to expand at the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.67 percent, resulting in a projected market volume of $189.90 million by 2026.
Of this, the market’s largest segment in 2022 is ‘on-road motorcycles’ with a projected market volume of $92.55 million.
Cambodia is a youthful country and significantly developing in many sectors. Going by the trend and market estimates, motorcycle unit sales are expected to reach 28.21K in 2026. At the same time, the volume-weighted average price of the motorcycle market in 2022 is expected to be $6.59K.
Motorcycle has a huge demand among people from rural areas of the Kingdom. A two-wheeler is in high demand as it is used as the primary individual mobility device chosen for the economy, for easy mobility in a congested metropolis, low maintenance, low consumption, and finally low emissions.
According to government estimates, up to 920,000 cars and 5.2 million motorcycles ply Cambodian roads. Since 1998, the number of cars has increased from 65,000 to 920,000 and the number of motorcycles rose from 200,000 to 5.2 million, according to Sun Chanthol, Senior Minister and Minister of Public Works and Transport.
“This growth is thanks to peace that has allowed the government and people to restore and rebuild the nation and advance firmly with development and growth in all sectors,” the Minister said.
According to a report from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the number of newly registered vehicles in 2020 was 640,183, comprising 15,956 heavy trucks, 92,958 cars, and 531,269 motorbikes.
Given the youthful profile of the population and steady economic growth, ASEAN motorcycle industry accounts for around one-quarter of the global industry.
With the ASEAN governments deciding to go for “living with Covid-19” after going for a large-scale immunization programme covering most of the population with required doses, from the second part of 2021, the industry is recovering. It reported a large 28.7 percent sales increase in January-September of 2022.
The industry hit a peak in 2019 at over 15 million sales, representing nearly 25 percent of the global market, before being hardly hit by the pandemic effects and decline very sharply in 2020.
Starting from the second part of 2021, the industry is now recovering and reporting a third-quarter sales increase of a huge 28.7 percent in January-September of 2022 the regional 2-wheeler market hit 8.8 million, up 6.4 percent.
However, the motorcycle sales in the whole ASEAN region do not reflect a similar pattern. Of the ASEAN market, Indonesia is the largest in Indonesia, which is losing 5.1 percent so far in 2022. In Vietnam, the second-largest bike mart, sales are up at 16.2 percent after a huge spike reported in the third quarter of 2022.
In the Philippines, sales are up 9.6 percent and are not far from the all-time record level. Thailand is the fourth with a sales trend up 11.3 percent, while Malaysia is projected to hit a new all-time record and with year-to-day September sales up 57.3 percent. Rapid economic development, improved income, population growth, and rising rates of urbanization have contributed to the high demand for vehicle ownership in Cambodia.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
