Like other consumer sectors, India’s two-wheeler industry continues to veer towards the premium segment.

The market share of premium motorcycles (engine capacity greater than 150 cc) increased to 19% last fiscal from 14% in fiscal 2019, with their volume rising to 2.3 million units from 1.9 million units.

The runup was in sharp contrast to the downtrend in the overall volume of motorcycles, from 13.6 million units in fiscal 2019 to 12.3 million units in fiscal 2025, and in the overall two-wheeler volume, to 19.9 million units from 21.2 million units. What’s more, premium motorcycle sales surpassed the pre-Covid level by 22% last fiscal, while sales of two-wheelers stood at 94% of the pre-pandemic level and motorcycles at 90%.

A confluence of demand and supply factors is fuelling this trend.

Says Pushan Sharma, Director, Crisil Intelligence, "The demand-side spurs for premium motorcycles include a growing preference for these products from buyers with healthy incomes who maintained their purchasing power even during the pandemic. On the supply side, it is the expanded range of options available to consumers. For the record, the number of motorcycle models available in the premium segment increased to 35 last fiscal from 23 in fiscal 2019. We anticipate these trends to persist through the next five years."

The market share of economy motorcycles, on the other hand, declined to 46% last fiscal from 62% in fiscal 2019, with volume shrinking to 5.6 million units from 8.4 million units, largely due to weak rural demand and an increase in prices.

Says Mohit Adnani, Associate Director, Crisil Intelligence, "Weak rural demand poses a major hurdle for entry level motorcycles. Rural incomes have not increased in lockstep with the steep 65-70% hike in prices of economy models to pass on the increase in costs due to the transition from Bharat Stage (BS) IV to BS VI standards, implementation of safety norms, and the commodity super cycle. Thus, sales of these motorcycles recovered to only 67% of the pre-pandemic level last fiscal.”

That said, the market share of premium motorcycles is expected to climb to ~22% by fiscal 2030. The improvement will ride on favourable macroeconomic trends, increasing disposable incomes, rising global exposure of consumers and a youthful demographic.