Scooty flying high

Sharmin Akhtar, a banker by profession, was paying almost Tk 500 for every car trip to her Banani office from her residence in Mirpur-1 using ride-sharing services.

Unable to bear the exorbitant transport costs, Sharmin made her mind to get herself a scooter, popularly known as ‘scooty’ in Asia, to get rid of the daily commuting hassles.

“I bought a scooter 11 months ago following a colleague’s advice. It has saved me from a lot of hassles in daily commuting and expenses,” she said while sharing her experience with The Business Post.

Sharmin is one of many women who have taken up motorised two-wheelers to meet their daily transport needs in Dhaka, a city known for its hectic traffic congestions, and other major cities in the country.

“I had to previously spend more than Tk 500 a day to travel to the office, which I think is very expensive.

Now, my transport costs have gone down as my scooter’s fuel consumption is very low and I have the freedom to move anywhere I want,” she added.

Industry insiders say some 4,000 scooters are being sold across the country every year, and the demand for the two-wheeler continues to grow among women and their male counterparts.

Hasibur Rahman, who bought a scooter after selling off his motorbike recently, said: “Nowadays, modern scooters come with enough power and potential equal to motorcycles. If anyone prefers to ride fast and likes long rides, scooters will not be a bad choice. On top of that, scooters offer additional advantages such as extra storage space and a long seat.”

“Scooters are economical and affordable. Maintenance cost is much lower than that of a regular motorcycle,” he noted.

Talking to The Business Post, TVS Auto Bangladesh Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Biplob Kumar Roy said: “On an average, some 4,000 scooters are being sold a year in Bangladesh, of which two of our brands, Wego and Jupiter, currently hold around 45 per cent market share.

“We sold 1,800 units in 2018, 1,700 units in 2019 and 1,500 units in 2020. Till June 2021, we sold some 720 TVS scooters.”

Although sales dipped during the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for scooters has risen significantly over the past few years.

“The demand for scooters has been on the rise as people consider it to be much safer than regular motorcycles. Scooters are already popular in all metropolitan cities in Asia,” he said.

“Gradually, Bangladesh will also shift to the scooter. It comes with auto gear and is more user friendly than a regular motorbike,” the TVS Bangladesh CEO added.

Currently, almost all popular global motorcycle manufacturers have introduced at least one scooter model in Bangladesh seeing the recent rise in demand.

Popular scooter models in Bangladesh include Yamaha NMax, Aprilia SR 150, Vespa Elegante 150, Znen T10, Yamaha Ray ZR (Street Rally), Honda Dio, Znen T6, Suzuki Access 125, TVS Wego, and Mahindra Gusto 125, among others.

Business insiders said Bangladesh’s scooter market, which was hit hard by the pandemic, has made a rebound with sales reaching pre-pandemic levels, bringing smiles to the faces of distributors.

However, a shortfall in supply caused by the pandemic has hamstrung the market growth.

Ripon Chandro Kanjilal, sales executive and logistic officer for Suzuki at Moto Zone showroom, said: “Currently, many buyers visit our showrooms every day. Among them, many come to buy Suzuki Access 125. Since our supply has been affected by the pandemic, we are currently able to sell 14 to 15 scooters per month.”

Talking to The Business Post, Ananta Jannat, sales executive at Yamaha’s Crescent Enterprise South showroom at Shonir Akhra, said: “Our average sales per month hovers around 30 to 35 scooters. Despite a rising trend in sales, we can’t fulfil the market demand because of import-related complexities caused by the coronavirus outbreak across the globe.”

“We have suffered much during the pandemic with sales plummeting by almost 70 per cent. But sales have gained momentum with the opening of offices and a return to normalcy.”

“Currently, both men and women are buying scooters from our showroom. I think both the popularity and demand of scooters are increasing day by day in our country,” she added.

Ariful Islam, a senior executive of Niloy Motors at Tejgaon, said: “Recently, scooters have become a craze for both male and female riders. Low prices are making scooters popular among men too.”

“Now, we sell around 10 to 12 scooters every month. Currently, we cannot meet the demand because of a supply crunch. Indian and Chinese scooters have high demand in the market,” Ariful added.

“The price of Indian scooter starts from Tk 1,28,000 to Tk 1,60,000. On the other hand, Chinese scooters are available from Tk 50,000 to Tk 55,000,” he added.

The distributors also said that apart from Indian and Chinese scooters, few Italian-made scooters and locally-assembled Runner Scooter 110 are also available.

Zohirul Islam, zonal manager (Dhaka) at Runner, said: “We started selling our locally-made scooter in the market from last year. The price ranges from Tk 96,000 to Tk 1,00,000, depending on colour variations.

“Currently, the demand for scooters have increased compared to last year. On average, we sell five to six Runner scooters from our showroom every month. Women are our main customers. Besides, men above the age 40 to 50 also prefer our scooters,” he added.

Meanwhile, Chinese motorcycle manufacturer Meiduo has entered the Bangladeshi scooter market, offering many models and options.

Talking with The Business Post, Md Appel Mahmud, showroom manager of Meiduo, said, “Meiduo scooters are imported from China. We have been selling our scooter in Dhaka since 2017. In recent years, the demand for Meiduo scooter has increased due to its good quality.”

“We sold 57 units in 2017, 150 units in 2018, and 180 units in 2019.

However, we only managed to sell some 160 units in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year, the sales have increased significantly.

“Now, on average, we sell around 30 to 40 scooters from our showroom in a month. Our sales have doubled now compared to recent years. We have five models available, including Meiduo M Spark 125cc, Meiduo S Max 150cc, Meiduo BWS 150cc, Meiduo Lily SuperPower and Meiduo M6 150.”

Recently, Walton Digi-Tech Industries Ltd announced that they would soon introduce electric bikes or scooters for the local market to deliver motor vehicles to customers at low cost.

Although the exact number of scooters registered in the country or the number of women holding driving licences could not be known, driving schools say they have witnessed a rise in the number of women showing eagerness to learn motorcycle riding.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Assistant Director Engineer Mohammad Rafiqul Islam said: “Two-wheeler scooters are also registered under the category of motorcycles in Bangladesh. So, we don’t know the exact number of scooter users in the country.”

Data from BRTA showed that 32,58,697 motorcycles were registered in Bangladesh until May 2021, and 3,11,016 were registered in 2020.

“Nowadays, women are more interested in riding scooters considering safety. It’s becoming popular in our country in recent years,” he added.

According to BRAC Driving School, a total of 599 women received training in motorbike driving at their facility till January 26, 2020.

Along with general riders, two women-only ride-sharing services, LilyRide and Pink SAM, were also launched in the last few years to create safe travel options for working women in Dhaka city and open earning opportunities for female scooter riders.

Apart from the general public, Dhaka Metropolitan Police in 2016 introduced a fleet of scooters for female traffic sergeants in the capital.