India shipped a record 51,80,429 two-wheelers (about 5.18 million units) overseas in FY2025-26, up 23.4% year on year and the highest single-year total ever (Autopunditz). Strip out scooters and mopeds and the motorcycle-only slice is racing toward roughly 4.5 million units, on track to beat the FY2022 peak of 4.08 million (Autocar Professional). If you want the short version of the latest motorcycle export from India story: the slump is over, and Africa and Latin America are writing the cheques.
A record on SIAM's tally is not a record in your order book. That 23.4% jump is concentrated in a few markets (Nigeria, Colombia, Bangladesh) and a few makers. The suppliers who ride it read destination import records lane by lane, rather than wait for a Lagos distributor to email back.
The 30-second version
- Two wheeler export from India hit a record 5.18 million units in FY2025-26, up 23.4% over 4.20 million a year earlier (Autopunditz).
- Bajaj Auto is the #1 exporter at 19,67,810 units (38.0% share); TVS Motor is second at 14,26,424 and the fastest big gainer at +30.9% (Autopunditz).
- Latin America is now Bajaj's largest export region at ~35% of its shipments, ahead of Africa at ~30%; it holds roughly 60% of the market in Nigeria (Business Standard).
- Bikes cross borders two ways: CBU (fully built) and CKD (knocked-down kits assembled locally) — the split decides whether your buyer is a distributor or an assembler.
- Powered two-wheelers ship under HS 8711; the volume core is 8711.20 (50–250cc) — think Boxer, Pulsar, CT and Star City 125 (Flexport).
What does the latest motorcycle export from India data show?
India exported 51,80,429 two-wheelers in FY2025-26, a 23.4% rise on the 41,98,403 units shipped in FY2024-25 and the best year on record (Autopunditz). The motorcycle-only segment — the core of what people mean by motorcycle export from India — cleared 3.29 million units in the first nine months alone, up 26%, heading for a full-year record near 4.5 million (Autocar Professional).
Two things drove it: a broader model range that finally fits emerging-market buyers, and a weaker rupee that quietly made every Indian bike cheaper on the docks (AckoDrive). Here is how the FY2025-26 volume splits by maker — the liftable version of the leaderboard:
| Exporter | FY2025-26 units | Share | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bajaj Auto | 19,67,810 | 38.0% | +17.5% |
| TVS Motor | 14,26,424 | 27.5% | +30.9% |
| Honda Motorcycle | 6,20,275 | 12.0% | +22.8% |
| Hero MotoCorp | 4,02,744 | 7.8% | +39.0% |
| Yamaha India | 3,41,765 | 6.6% | +15.6% |
| Suzuki Motorcycle | 2,64,541 | 5.1% | +25.7% |
| Royal Enfield | 1,31,336 | 2.5% | +22.6% |
From a two-year slump to a record: the FY2022–FY2026 comeback
The record only lands if you remember where exports were two years ago. Shipments peaked at 4.44 million in FY2022, then fell 17.8% to 3.65 million in FY2023 as forex shortages and inflation gutted African demand, and slipped again to 3.46 million in FY2024 (Business Standard, Autocar Professional). FY2025 turned it around with a 22% rebound, and FY2026 stacked another 23.4% on top. Classic V.
Why it matters: a market that swung this hard once can swing again. Nigeria's dollar crunch broke exports in FY2023; its recovery is carrying them now. You catch that turn three months early by watching monthly import records in the destination country, not a year-end press release.
Which countries buy the most motorcycles from India?
Latin America and Africa are the two engines of Indian two-wheeler exports — for market leader Bajaj Auto, Latin America is now the single largest region at about 35% of shipments, with Africa close behind near 30% (Business Standard). The demand clusters, ranked roughly by pull:
- Latin America — Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. Commuter 125–160cc bikes for gig delivery and last-mile transport; Colombia is a standout on local assembly.
- Africa — Nigeria (where Bajaj holds ~60% share), Uganda, Kenya and Egypt. The okada and boda-boda taxi economies run on Indian Boxers and CT-series bikes.
- South Asia — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, mostly served through knocked-down kits assembled behind local-content rules.
- ASEAN & Middle East — the Philippines, Indonesia and the Gulf, growing off a smaller base (PMIndia).
The practical read: these are not interchangeable buyers. A Colombian assembler taking kits monthly wants a multi-year supply deal; a Gulf distributor taking finished bikes wants price and prompt shipment. Read the buyer before you draft the quote.
Latin America overtook Africa as India's biggest two-wheeler export region in FY2025-26 — the map of who buys Indian bikes just got redrawn, and most exporters are still pitching last year's map.
Who are the top Indian motorcycle exporters?
Bajaj Auto is India's #1 motorcycle exporter, shipping 19,67,810 two-wheelers in FY2025-26 for a 38% share — more than the next two makers combined (Autopunditz). The Bajaj export engine runs on the Boxer, the CT 100/125 and the Pulsar range; seven Bajaj models sit inside the top 20 export bikes, and the Boxer alone drove 517,189 units in the 100–110cc class (Autocar Professional).
TVS Motor is the fastest-climbing of the majors, up 30.9% to 14,26,424 units, with the Star City 125 leading a 601,801-unit haul in the 125cc segment. Honda, Hero MotoCorp, Yamaha, Suzuki and Royal Enfield fill out the field — Hero's 39% jump was the sharpest growth among the top seven. For a component maker or logistics provider, the takeaway is simple: the customer base for indian motorcycle exporters is concentrated, so knowing which OEM feeds which destination lane is half the sales job.
CBU vs CKD: how Indian bikes actually cross borders
Motorcycles leave India in two very different forms, and the difference reshapes who your buyer is:
- CBU (Completely Built Up) — the whole assembled bike ships as one unit. Fastest to sell, but it attracts the highest import duty in protectionist markets, so it suits distributors in lower-tariff destinations.
- CKD (Completely Knocked Down) — the bike travels as a kit of parts and is bolted together at the destination. Markets like Nigeria, Colombia, Bangladesh and Egypt tax CKD far lighter to grow local assembly jobs, so Bajaj and TVS run CKD lines with in-country partners.
This matters in the trade data. A CBU shipment shows up cleanly under HS 8711. A CKD program can surface as knocked-down vehicles under 8711 and as motorcycle parts under HS 8714 — so a search on 8711 alone can undercount a buyer who is really importing kits. A buyer pulling CKD kits every month is an assembler or licensee and a long contract; a buyer taking CBU units is a distributor and a spot deal. Same country, two entirely different pitches.
Motorcycle export HS code: 8711 explained
Powered two-wheelers classify under HS heading 8711 — "motorcycles (including mopeds) and cycles fitted with an auxiliary motor" (Flexport). The subheadings split by engine size, and India's export volume sits overwhelmingly in one of them:
- 8711.10 — mopeds and cycles up to 50cc.
- 8711.20 — 50cc to 250cc: the commuter core, and where almost every Indian export bike lives (Boxer, CT, Pulsar 125/150, Star City).
- 8711.30–8711.50 — 250cc up to over 800cc, covering mid-size and premium machines such as the bigger Pulsars and Royal Enfields.
- 8711.60 — electric two-wheelers, the fastest-growing subheading globally.
New to codes? Start with our guide to what an HS code is and how to find it, then run 8711.20 and 8714 together so you capture both finished bikes and the CKD kit trade. Getting the code right is the line between finding every buyer of Indian bikes and finding a random slice of them.
A record export year built on two markets. When Nigeria's forex tightens or a Colombian assembler switches supplier, the only thing that travels with you to the next buyer is a live import-records list.
How to find buyers for your motorcycle export from India
ShipScout is a global trade-intelligence platform — 11 billion-plus shipment records across 240+ countries, built as an affordable alternative to Panjiva and ImportGenius. For an Indian bike maker, parts supplier or trader working on motorcycle export from India, it maps demand from mirrored licensed trade data and from destination markets' own import records, which for Colombia, Mexico, Bangladesh and much of Africa are publicly reported. The workflow:
- Search the right codes. Run HS 8711 for finished bikes and 8714 for CKD/parts to see which assemblers and distributors abroad are pulling Indian-origin volume, and how much. Start in the company directory.
- Follow the open lane. Rank live buyers in Mexico, Colombia and Bangladesh where Indian bikes land duty-competitive — the importer records there are public. The method is in how to use customs data to find buyers.
- Vet before you ship. An importer's real receipt history beats a broker's promise — here's how to verify a partner before paying.
- Reach the buying desk. Contact intelligence, where available, gets past the generic inbox; the full playbook is in finding buyers for export from India.
One habit that converts a motorcycle enquiry: pull a target importer's last two quarters of receipts and open with specifics — model class, monthly units, CBU or CKD, the origin they buy from now. An assembler in Bogotá who sees you know their supply book reads the second paragraph. India already builds the bikes commuter markets want, and FY2025-26 proved demand is back. Start a free trial and search HS 8711 to see who's importing Indian motorcycles this quarter.
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