Global motorcycle oil market (MCO) is set to rise, according to Kline report.
With two-wheelers being the preferred mode of transport for low and mid-income segments of developing countries' population, the Kline report has anticipated the decline of sales as a result of COVID-19.
However, the market research company believes that increasing commercial use of two-wheelers is driving the change, according to Sushmita Dutta, the project manager of Kline’s study. “Using two-wheelers as taxis and courier/delivery services is increasing in almost all regions, not just in developing countries. E-commerce has been favorably affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people have increased their online purchasing due to the stay-at-home policy in many countries. This change in consumer purchasing behavior is expected to be permanent, providing an impetus to further e-commerce growth and, thus, the rising use of two-wheelers for delivery services.”
The report indicates that semi-synthetic and OEM genuine lubricants are showing key growth with the latter increasing signifantly over the last few years. In India, the largest two-wheeler market globally, genuine oils accounted for 5%-10% of the country’s MCO demand in 2019.
Because consumers of genuine oils tend to follow OEM recommendations, the adoption of synthetics will be postively impacted, although the socio-economic make-up of Asia-Pacific and South America will create challenges here. Semi-synthetics may grow with the increasing sales of automatic scooters and higher-cylinder-capacity vehicles in these regions.
Meanwhile China has experienced exponential growth in the electric two-wheeler population over the last five years but their adoption volumes are low so unlikely to disrupt the MCO growth.