Motorcycle sellers can’t believe their fortune seeing that pandemic ramps up sales
When Bangladesh reported its earliest confirmed circumstance of Covid-19 an infection in early on March, Saleh Mohammed Shuhel, the proprietor B. Baria Motors that sells motorcycles, experienced thought his business wouldn't normally come to be spared from the claws of the raging disease.
To his utter surprise, the devastating effects of the countrywide shutdown devote spot to stop the propagate of the lethal pathogen has ended up being a boon.
Sales in his showroom in Brahmanbaria have raised by about 20 % over the last 8 weeks.
"Before the pandemic, I used to sell 40 to 45 devices of motorbikes monthly during memories. Now, the sales risen to 55 to 60 models," Shuhel told The Daily Star yesterday.
The primary reason for the surge in sales, he pointed out, is the concern with catching the virus, which may be spread mostly through physical contact.
Before the onset of the pandemic, people travelled daily for jobs or business purposes from Kasba, an upazila in the district, to the district centre, typically by buses or CNG-run three-wheelers.
Now, they fear so much the virus, compelling many of them to choose the safer solution of motorcycles, which allows the requisite social distancing needed to flatten the curve in coronavirus.
Motorcycle dealers from seven more districts also confirmed their product sales have risen 10 to 20 % over the last 8 weeks.
In line with the dealers, apart from the stress and anxiety over catching the contamination, the recent upsurge in the fare of bus and CNGs is another cause for people to change to motorcycles.
For example, a CNG-run three-wheeler used to move five folks from Habiganj Sadar to Baniachong, an upazila of the district, charging a fare of Tk 40 from each one of the passengers.
But when the federal government eased a number of the restrictions in the movement of cars, such vehicles weren't allowed to carry a lot more than three travellers -- a good practice that continues. Due to this fact, the fare rose 75 % to Tk 70 per passenger.
Later, the federal government hiked the bus fare by 60 % across the country from June 1.
"Due to the capability of travelling during these hard times and low-cost transportation, persons are opting for motorcycles," explained Md Kamal, a technician at New Sheikh Motors found in Habiganj.
In the last 8 weeks, the showroom has sold about 50 units of motorcycles per month, up from 32-35 units during normal times.
In March, the business enterprise of Ettadi Motors, which sells both used and brand-different motorcycles in Sylhet, was terrible.
Although the shop was closed almost all of the time because of coronavirus in April and May, it still were able to sell a great number of motorcycles, said Rayhan Ahmed, who owns Ettadi Motors.
"The sales in June skyrocketed, not only in my showroom but also in different showrooms," he added.
The companies have also offered discounts to drive up sales. Almost all brands developed cashback and discounts presents on the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr, said a supervisor of a showroom in Sylhet.
Because of cost efficiency, travelling convenience through traffic-congested streets, and people's increasing getting power backed by the steadily expanding economy, the motorcycle industry has been witnessing double-digit growth for days gone by several years.
The quantity of registered motorcycles increased about four times in the last 10 years to 2,991,612 in 2020 from 759,257 in 2010 2010, data from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority showed.
However, the official figure is much less than the actual number, said sector insiders. A lot more than 1,000 units of motorcycles hit the street in Bangladesh every day but only half of these are registered.
The market started to expand fast from fiscal 2016-17 when the federal government slashed the supplementary duty by 25 percentage points to 20 % on the import of the two-wheeler's pieces to motivate domestic manufacturing.
To improve the industry's growth even more, the government has formulated the Motorbike Industry Development Policy 2018.
It aims to have motorcycle development up to 1 million units by 2027 with 50 percent of them via local manufacturing and supply quality motorcycles to domestic and overseas markets in competitive prices.
