The motorbike market in Mandalay has slowed down in recent months as their prices have increased in line with global prices, according to sources in the motorbike industry in Myanmar’s second-largest city.
“Motorbike prices are dependent on the global currency market,” said Ko Thet Naing Win, a motorbike dealer from Mandalay. “It is normal for the price of motorbikes to be high between April and September. After October, the price may fall again and it is not unusual that the prices are up and down around this time,” he said.
Although the price has increased from earlier in the year, compared to the prices of motorbike’s last year, the average price has dropped by roughly K50,000 according to sources.
Last year, tax for motorcycles was K100,000, but are lower this year at between K40,000 and K50,000.
Top Star motorbike shop in Mandalay currently sells about 300 motorbikes daily, a drop from 500 earlier in the year.
The majority of motorbikes sold in Mandalay come from China, Japan, India and Thailand with Chinese bikes being particularly popular among Mandalay’s youths, according to sources.
Indian-made bikes are generally the cheaper motorbikes in Mandalay, costing on average between K400,000 and K800,000, while Japan-made motorbikes are the most expensive, costing between K1.5 and K2 million.
