FUNTI's daily electric motorcycle market brief for September 22, 2026: raw material prices, overseas market regulation and China export data, compiled from public sources for importers, distributors and fleet operators.
FUNTI MARKET INTELLIGENCE · September 22, 2026
① Today's Highlights
- Mexico imposes emission and OBD requirements on new petrol motorcycles: on 30 April 2026 Mexico notified G/TBT/N/MEX/565, publishing draft standard PROY-NOM-175-SEMARNAT-2026, which sets maximum permissible limits for total hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the exhaust of new motorcycles fitted with petrol internal-combustion engines, adds on-board diagnostic (OBD) requirements for the emission-control system, and covers evaporative emissions in the same standard. The draft is mandatory nationwide and applies to manufacturers, importers and sellers of new petrol motorcycles; motorcycles below 50cc and three- and four-wheeled vehicles are excluded. Compliance certification is handled by PROFEPA, which decides within 30 working days, and clause 5.4 of the draft allows a certificate issued by an environmental or certification body of the country of origin or certification as proof of conformity. Takeaway: certification cost and lead time for petrol two-wheelers into Mexico will rise, while pure-electric models are not directly caught by this standard — a concrete reason to push the Mexico product mix further towards electric (Mexico SEMARNAT / MOFCOM TBT information network, 2026-04-30).
- Brazil keeps shifting from "tariff cuts" to "local manufacturing": the Mover programme grants tax incentives for local production until 2028, with the Industrial Products Tax (IPI) on locally built electric vehicles cut to as low as 0%. Takeaway: the CBU tariff concession is gone and localisation incentives keep rising; the workable route into Brazil remains "local assembly plus local supply", and the pure CBU trading window will not stay open much longer (ABVE / Gasgoo, MarkLines, 2026-09).
② Raw Materials & FX
- Lithium carbonate (spot, CBC basis): on 21 September the national average for industrial-grade lithium carbonate was RMB 131,000/t, up RMB 800/t day on day; battery-grade quoted RMB 135,500/t in Jiangxi and RMB 134,100/t in Sichuan, with Shanghai industrial grade at RMB 133,750/t. Export prices moved up in tandem: Europe CIF USD 17,800/t and South America FOB USD 17,650/t. Takeaway: spot has stopped falling and overseas quotes are moving up together, so waiting for further declines now costs more than it saves — buy in tranches at current spot prices (CBC Metal, 2026-09-21).
- Copper (spot basis): on 21 September the Changjiang 1# copper average was RMB 110,970/t, up RMB 640/t; Shanghai electrolytic copper quoted RMB 110,800/t (+RMB 450) and Foshan copper plate RMB 96,050/t (+RMB 400). Takeaway: copper keeps edging higher at a high level, so there is still very little room to negotiate enamel wire and oxygen-free copper wire prices; leave headroom for copper in motor quotations (Cnal / Changjiang Nonferrous, 2026-09-21).
- Aluminium: on 21 September A00 aluminium averaged RMB 24,320/t, down RMB 50/t, with Foshan A00 at RMB 24,800/t and Shanghai A00 at RMB 24,350/t; LME aluminium stocks were flat at 242,600 t and SHFE aluminium stocks remain low. Takeaway: aluminium eased but inventories have not built up, so quotes for frames, wheels and aluminium parts should not be cut mechanically in line with a single-day fall (Cnal, 2026-09-21).
- Steel: Mysteel indices on 21 September showed the rebar index at 131.18, up 0.17%, and the hot-rolled coil index at 118.09, up 0.14%; Shagang published its late-September construction steel price policy the same day. Takeaway: indices are edging up while plate is still building inventory; lock in near-term volumes at current prices rather than betting on a one-way decline (Mysteel, 2026-09-21).
- FX: the 22 September USD/CNY central parity will be published at 09:15 and was not available when this brief was produced (08:20). The usable reference is Bank of China's 21 September forward settlement rates — one-year USD midpoint at 649.36 (down from 649.595 on 19 September) — together with China Merchants Bank's 21 September USD spot selling rate of RMB 671.25 per USD 100. Takeaway: RMB remains firm and forwards still point to appreciation, so settlement income on USD-quoted orders keeps being squeezed; leave FX headroom per currency in the pricing model (Bank of China / China Merchants Bank, 2026-09-21).
③ Overseas Markets
- Hanoi's replacement base is now clear: the city has 6.9 million registered motorcycles, of which 5.6 million run on petrol and only 1.3 million are electric; at least 450,000 motorcycles are used in the city centre every day. The ban proceeds in three stages — inner Ring Road 1 from 1 July 2026, Ring Road 2 plus private petrol cars from 1 January 2028, and all private fossil-fuel vehicles inside Ring Road 3 by 2030. Takeaway: share won through battery-swap and after-sales capability lasts longer than share won on price (local government notices / Vietnamese media, 2026).
- Vietnamese makers show the pace of demand: in March 2026 alone VinFast received more than 135,000 electric motorcycle orders and delivered over 93,000 units, a record high. Takeaway: local demand has been activated by policy — what dealers lack is stable supply and local parts support, not a lower price (VNA / VinFast, 2026-04-03).
- Europe's electrification rate is climbing fast: industry research shows electric motorcycles rising from under 10% of European sales in 2023 to 25% in 2026, driven by Euro 5 emission rules and zero-emission zones, with premium models such as the BMW CE04 and Ducati V21L leading growth. Takeaway: Europe is a high-price, electrified profit market and needs a product line separate from the Southeast Asian value play (Zhongyan Research, 2026).
- Mexico's electric headroom: forecasts put electric motorcycles at 20% of the Mexican motorcycle market in 2026, up from 10% in 2024; e-commerce and food delivery create firm two-wheeler demand, while Mexico has been enforcing stricter mandatory safety features such as ABS since 2025. Takeaway: the opportunity lies in delivery fleets and compliant models — certification first matters more than a low price (Mexican industry sources, 2026).
- Brazil's charging network is filling in: by mid-2025 Brazil had about 17,000 public and semi-public charging points; São Paulo State Law 18,403, in force since February 2026, allows private chargers in apartment parking bays, with owners' associations able to refuse only on safety or technical grounds; and the World Bank has approved USD 500 million for electric bus roll-out in major cities. Takeaway: charging and local financing are advancing together, paving the way for local assembly and commercial use cases (ABVE / public sources, 2026).
FUNTI · Taizhou Fangxiang Technology Co., Ltd.
Daily electric motorcycle market brief for importers, distributors and fleet operators. Figures are compiled from public market sources and industry associations; verify before commercial use.
