The Thai Motorcycle Market
Sunday, 02 August 2015 @ 08:05 AM ICT
Contributed by: news
The other day, I was discussing – well, mostly I talked and they listened – the differences between the premium motorcycle market and the commuter market. They're quite profoundly apart in nature and outlook.
The commuter buyer is looking for a tool. An appliance that'll cost little, do the business without fuss, be cheap to run and that's about it. Some will fuss over the status or aspirational appeal of one motorcycle versus the other, but across the most reliable brands in the market, the commuter is a commodity. But the motorcycle is a large purchase for these buyers and is, hence, not always considered a dire necessity. Which means a bad raining season, tough credit environment, a rise in prices, an unstable government... pracically any reason at all is enough for a buyer to defer the purchase. This is the central reason why you read in the paper that the motorcycle market is up, then down, the down some more, then up again.