Motorcycle sales in India began an upward trend since 2015. Japanese motorcycle manufacturers including Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki forayed into India in the 1980's one after another and along came Japanese upstream component suppliers, which have established a complete local supply chain ecosystem.
Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki together have nine factories and two R&D or operation bases in India. Japanese startup Terra Motors also runs four electric three-wheeler (E3W) factories in India.
Three-wheelers are commonly used as taxis in India. According to the statistics on India's export and import companies released by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in March, 2021, 163 companies are in the transportation machinery and equipment manufacturing industry, among which 41 are two-wheeler and three-wheeler component suppliers. They together operate 73 production or R&D bases in India.
