Value Chain Dynamics and Local Suppliers’ Capability Building: An Analysis of the Vietnamese Motorcycle Industry

The Vietnamese motorcycle industry has experienced remarkable growth since the mid-1990s. Being a latecomer to the motorcycle industry in the Asian region, motorcycle production in Vietnam started in the mid-1990s with a very small market, heavy protection, and a nascent local supply base. The few Japanese firms with local production manufactured high-quality, expensive models that relied on imported components and were beyond the reach of ordinary Vietnamese customers. However, in less than ten years the country emerged as the world’s fourth largest market for and producer of motorcycles after China, India, and Indonesia.1 This remarkable transformation was triggered by the arrival of Chinese models that were assembled by local Vietnamese firms, often with the assistance of Chinese firms. Fierce competition between the Japanese industry leaders and local assemblers of Chinese motorcycles led to lower prices, increased local content, and rapid expansion of the market (The Motorbike Joint Working Group 2007; Fujita 2008).