Kawasaki motorcycles are generally considered to be a small part of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries conglomerate based in Akashi Japan. Even if you've never ridden a Kawasaki motorcycle, there is a possibility you've been transported in something that Kawasaki designed or built. If you've ridden in a subway car, chances are it was built by Kawasaki. The Washington DC Metro system has over 700 Kawasaki built subway cars in use. The New York subway system will soon have a total of 1175 Kawasaki designed and manufactured subway cars in its fleet, all manufactured at Kawasaki's plant in Lincoln Nebraska.



Don't ride a motorcycle or the subway? Kawasaki also manufactures the high-tech Boeing 787 aircraft's mid-forward fuselage section, main landing gear wheel well, and wing fixed trailing edge, in addition to components for the Boeing 767 and 777. Kawasaki also makes gigantic ships including Liquid Natural Gas (CNG) carriers, oil tankers, and container ships. What powers these gigantic ships? You guessed it, Kawasaki designs and builds some of the world's largest ship engines. Oh, and Kawasaki also develops helicopters, rockets, and rocket launch complexes. The world's longest suspension bridge? The 2.4-mile-long Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan? Designed by Kawasaki.




So why does Kawasaki design and manufacture motorcycles? Simply put, the motorcycle and four-wheel business is very profitable for Kawasaki. Let's take a look at the most recent Kawasaki Heavy Industries financial report (Fiscal Year 2022) and learn just how profitable, and just how big the motorcycle business is to Kawasaki.



Of the six business segments in the Kawasaki Corporate hierarchy, "Powersports and Engine" aka Motorcycles, four wheelers, side-by-sides, and personal watercraft represent 34.2% of total corporate sales. The next largest segment is the Aerospace Systems (Boeing 787 parts, helicopters, etc.) at 20.2%. So, one-third of Kawasaki's total revenue in 2022 was from the sale of powersports.

Just who is purchasing all these motorcycles? And how many motorcycles are shipped annually? Let's take a look at the wholesale distribution (Kawasaki motorcycles shipped to dealers) by country. The United States is the largest developed country at 119,000 motorcycles shipped in fiscal 2022. The Philippines is the largest emerging market with 209,000 motorcycles wholesaled in 2022. Worldwide, Kawasaki shipped 555,000 motorcycles to dealers in 2022, a significant increase over the 491,000 units delivered in 2021. The plan for fiscal 2023 is the deliver 580,000 motorcycles to dealers. Kawasaki also shipped 87,000 four wheel and PWC (Personal Water Craft) units to dealers in 2022. Kawasaki is rushing to build new production capacity in the United Sates and Mexico to boost four-wheeler production.



Lastly, how profitable is the motorcycle business to Kawasaki?

In 2022, motorcycles were hugely profitable for Kawasaki. The Powersports and Engine division reported sales of 591 Billion yen, and profits of 71.5 billion yen. This represents 70% of total corporate profit for Kawasaki in fiscal 2022. Said differently, motorcycles, four-wheelers, and PWCs earned double the profit in 2022 vs the other five corporate divisions combined.

Motorcycles have consistently been said to be a small part of Kawasaki's overall business. These facts and figures paint a very different story. These are facts and sales figures that even most Kawasaki dealers are not aware of.