Honda has spent decades building one of the most dominant positions in the global motorcycle industry, selling millions of gasoline-powered two-wheelers each year. But in markets where electric motorcycles and scooters are becoming more accessible, that dominance is starting to face a serious challenge.
Vietnam offers a particularly interesting case study, where rapidly growing sales of electric motorcycles are beginning to reshape a market long dominated by Honda.
According to newly released nationwide sales figures, Vietnam recorded more than 3 million sales of motorcycles and scooters during the first nine months of 2026, representing a growth of 25.9% over the same period last year.
But the real story is in the electric segment, where sales increased by 90.5% to reach 973,247 units. That means electric two-wheelers now account for about 32% of all new motorcycle and scooter sales in the country.
And the biggest beneficiary is not Honda. It is actually the Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast.
While Honda remains Vietnam’s largest motorcycle manufacturer overall, with sales growth of 8.4% this year, VinFast has risen to second place with a staggering 152.1% increase in sales. Yamaha is now in third place, followed by electric two-wheeler maker Yadea in fourth.
Of the top four manufacturers, half are electric, and it is precisely that half that is experiencing meteoric sales growth.
It’s an impressive shakeup of a market that has traditionally been dominated by Japanese gasoline motorcycle makers.
Vietnam’s transition has not occurred in a vacuum either. Government efforts to reduce urban air pollution, including plans to restrict the use of gasoline-powered motorcycles in parts of Hanoi, have helped create an increasingly favorable environment for electric alternatives.
And with companies like VinFast offering a growing range of electric scooters and motorcycles, riders now have more practical alternatives to petrol models than ever before.
To be clear, Honda isn’t exactly having problems. Its motorcycle sales continue to grow and the Japanese giant remains the undisputed market leader in Vietnam. But its overall market share is shrinking, and its relatively modest growth compared to the explosive electric segment suggests the market’s center of gravity is beginning to shift.
Vietnam may be just one example, but it is an important one of what can happen when electric two-wheelers become viable alternatives to gasoline motorcycles.
Honda has been perfecting the gasoline motorcycle for decades. The question now is how quickly it will be able to adapt to a market that is increasingly interested in something else.
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