Middle-class population drives motorcycle sales

CEBU, Philippines —  The expanding middle-class has driven motorcycle sales in the Philippines amid the high fuel and inflation rates.

Taiwanese motorcycle Kymco Philippines Inc., president Frank Yang said the brand is bullish on its growth path in the Philippines and aims to corner five percent share of the market within this year from the one percent share it currently holds.

Yang said although Kymco brand is one of the youngest entrants in the Philippine motorcycle business, it managed to eat up a share in the last 11 years, and that it expects to register good growth performance as it already proved its brand equity to the Filipino market.

Already made its brand prominence in European countries, Kymco is still starting to penetrate the Philippine market, together with other ASEAN countries.

Kymco Philippines Inc., general manager for spare parts and logistics Allan Santiago said that the enlarging middle class is pushing motorcycle sales up, amid the rising inflation.

Surprisingly, the expensive fuel has further driven the sales up, as people now opt to use motorcycles than cars to save fuel cost and consumption.

Also, the problem of traffic pushes demand for motorcycle ownership especially in urban areas like Cebu.

At present, the Philippine ratio of motorcycle ownership is 1:23 (meaning only one person owns a motorcycle in a group of 23).

In Dumaguete however, the current ratio is 2:1 which means out of two families, one owns a motorcycle.

Ratio of motorcycle ownership in the Philippines is expected to improve further, as more people are now able to afford to own motorcycle, some have to acquire one or two units as alternative vehicle for fast mobility.

Top executives led by Kymco Philippines Inc. chairman Manny Chang were in Cebu yesterday to formalize and launch its partnership with San Jose Bakeshop chain for its raffle promotion campaign, which gives away Kymco motorcycle as grand prize.