Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, a city where eight million people live. Almost everyone has a motorcycle. It is not an exaggeration: estimate It is between 6 and 7 million motorcycles in the city. The use of motorcycles represents Between 85% and 90% of filmed traffic in the country and the government has had an idea to erase all combustion motorcycles in the center of the capital by 2026.
And manufacturers of electric motorcycles They rub their hands.
Short. The contamination in the big cities Asian is a problem. That only in Hanoi there are about seven million motorcycles, not counting other vehicles such as cars, roads and motor tricycles, it is a barbarity that implies high levels of pollution. In the middle of the adventure that faces half the world To achieve the decarbonization, Combustion vehicles have become a problem and the Vietnamese government has decided to start taking action.
The measure began to be raised in 2017, but We already have date Definitive: As of July 1, 2026, motorcycles with combustion engines will not be able to circulate through the center of Hanoi. The measure is part of a much more ambitious national plan: totally eliminate combustion motorcycles by 2045 with a double objective: that of the air pollution And also, the noise pollution.
Brutal market. Although the plan will come into force on that date, it will be extended little by little to cover more districts and, as they point out in Electreklater these measures will also apply to other thermal vehicles. Hanoi, in addition, is not alone in this, since Saigón and Da Nang, with nine and 1.2 million inhabitants respectively, are also considering adopting these measures.
It will be a brutal blow for a market in which estimates They point to the existence of 770 motorcycles per 1,000 people. In September alone, there were 77 million motorcycles registered in the country, an absolute barbarity that leaves out those that are not registered for various reasons.
Manufacturers. The market also does not stop. The annual sales They are over three million units annually with sales only during the first quarter of this 2025 of more than 670,000 units, which represents 11.5% more than the same period of the previous year. And this market is led, above all, by foreign brands.
Honda has a market share of more than 80% this year, with 200,000 units sold only in March. Yamaha, Piaggio, Suzuki and Sym are other favorites, but there is a company that is growing by leaps and bounds and will become the top winner of this measure: VINFAST.
Hands rub. After Honda and Yamaha, it is the brand that is selling the most this year and what is special is that it is an electric motorcycle company. The market share of this type of propulsion increased from an estimate of 5.4% in 2019 to 12% in 2022. It was a great jump, especially if we take into account that there were no measures as radical as those that the Government raises at the moment and, currently, currently, Vinfast leads The electric motorcycle segment with 43% of the cake. In addition, it is local.
During the first five months of this year, sales in this segment have increased and the company has sold 488% more. With the big cities of the country limiting thermal motorcycles, the figure from here to two years can be stratospheric.
Who pays it. As usual, families with lower income. There are about 100 motorcycle models in Vietnam with low displacement models dominating the market, but also with larger and more powerful. The Price fork It is wide enough (Honda models by less than 800 dollars) So that almost everyone has a motorcycle within their economic possibilities, but with this transition, a problem also comes.
Several families that depend on motorcycles for their livelihood have already expressed in media such as Vietnam Express either Al Jazeera His concern for change. Those with lower income will have difficulty facing the change to an electric motorcycle and, in addition, there are complaints about the speed at which the change decision will have to be made because it is only a year for the prohibition.
Aid. One way to face the situation is through a aid program. As we read in Electrivethere are two measures that can be made from the government to facilitate the transition. The first is a series of subsidies to consumers that allow residents to replace almost half a million thermal motorcycles with electric equivalents.
On the other hand, An improvement in infrastructure and load network. Because, obviously, if you want to achieve such an aggressive transition, it cannot be pretended that everything falls to the consumer because there will be many who cannot take the motorcycle home with a private charge port. In parallel, and to attend public transport, the city plans to expand the fleet of electric microbuses. Last month, Saigon already It started to expand its urban fleet of electric motorcycles.
Industry. It only remains to expect how the market adapts with this forced change towards electric motorcycles, but you will also have to see how manufacturers such as Honda or Yamaha will be adapted. Because these brands not only sell in Vietnam: they manufacture in the country and, apart from covering national demand, are a Strong export point For Southeast Asia.
Not to mention that it is an industry that use To millions of people already who this change will not leave indifferent.
Images | An huy, Steffen Schmitz
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