Vietnam is preparing for a new era of transportation, officials have tried to remove 80 motorcycle drivers of the country away from gas-powered vehicles and electric two-wheelers within a few years.
In July, Prime Minister Fam Minh Chinh announced that all gasoline-managed motorcycles would be banned from the Ring Road 1, 7 km (4.3-mile) road of Hanoi to be banned from the center of the capital by mid-2026.
Hanoi was labeled as the world’s “most polluted metropolis” in 2025, and this remedy could affect 2 million daily travelers in the capital.
Authorities have planned to expand the ban on Ring Road 2 by 2028 and increase Ring Road 3 by 2030, with new restrictions on gasoline cars.
A similar policy is being discussed in Ho Chi Minh City, where the authorities want to phase out 400,000 gasoline-operated ride–hailing bikes from the city center in early 2026, before a full phase-out in late 2028.
The Ministry of Transport has set a nationwide target for 30% cars and 22% motorbikes that are electric by the end of the decade.
The analyst says that the government’s push is inspired by both environment and industrial priorities.
“Vietnam’s policy-making process is not straightforward at all, so it is difficult to pin the same inspiration,” said a visiting Fellow Guyen Khak Giang at the Isas-Yusof Isaq Isast Institute in Singapore, so it is difficult to pin the same inspiration. “
“Clearly, air pollution is a big issue in cities like Hanoi, and the government wants to be seen as something about it,” he said.
At the same time, Banas helped find the government’s agenda as Winfast and Paga in support of the government’s search for large private sector groups, dominating Vietnam’s fast growing electric motorbike market.
Smelly
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills at least 70,000 Vietnamese people every year, making it the second largest cause of the country’s death after cancer.
In January, Hanoi removed Hanoi as the “most polluted metropolis in the world” by Ekir, the monitoring group of air-quality.
A few months later, the level of dangerous PM2.5 particles was measured 24 times more than the WHO guidelines. Smog forced schools and factories to close.
A 2020 study by the National Economics University in Hanoi estimated that pollution costs € 8.5 billion to € 11 billion, which is equal to about 5% of the GDP that year.
Informal workers rely on gas-operated bikes
The public opinion on the motorcycle ban is mixed, Born at Vietnamese at the Australian National University, Han Naguyen told DW.
“Some support the ban,” he said, “and his view is not unfair, as Hanoi has been polluted over the years.”
But it is the idea that the Edict is rather participated, he said, “Especially for the workers of the informal sector who rely on the gas-driven motorbike for their livelihood.”
Millions of drivers now face the possibility of changing their bikes within months. Even the cheapest electric model is about € 380 ($ 445), a heavy amount in a country where the average monthly income is about € 250.
Hanh said that concerns over the lack of charging stations and whether Vietnam’s delicate power grid could stand up with an increase in demand.
A surge for Vietnamese brands
When it comes to the use of electric motorcycles, when it comes to the use of electric motorcycles, Vietnam is already third in Southeast Asia and globally, only in China and India, according to the July 1 report by analytics firm Kirin Capital.
In 2022, the electric bike was accounted for by 5.4% in 2019 for 12% of all motorcycles in Vietnam.
Earlier this year, the ruling Communist Party announced a adventure package of reforms, in which the private sector was first nominated as the primary driver of economic development and promised considerable support for the “national champion” – large, globally discovered as Vinfast by competitive private groups.
According to the global statistics platform motorcycle data, in the first five months of 2025, sales of small electric bikes increased by 113%, while sales of large models increased by 49%.
Recently growth is an air for national brands. Japanese giant Honda controls 80% of Vietnam’s traditional motorcycle market, but its share of the electric segment is negligible. Instead, about 70% of the Vietnamese manufacturer Winfast and PaGa account are about 70% of e-Motorbike accounts.
According to the International Council on Clean Transportation, the country’s first global motor vehicle exporter, led the pack in 2021 with 43.4% market share, followed by Paga with 15%, Taiwanese company Dibao and Chinese’s Yedia.
Vinfast saw an increase in sales of about 500% in early 2025, with motorcycle data. The company has cut prices up to 20% since May, with retail sales under € 390 with its entry-level moties and € 640 for high-development models. Thus PEGA remains competitive in the middle-to-two section.
Meanwhile, Honda has announced pilot rental plans, which is approximately € 50 per month, but is committed to large-scale production of electric two-wheelers in Vietnam.
Politics and pollution
What Hanoi wants to follow through the next year is uncertain.
The Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers, mainly for the industry bodies include foreign manufacturers, stated that it assumes that it assumes that things are moving very fast.
According to the online newspaper Vnexpress, a letter to the government in July stated, “At least two to three years are required to prepare residents, businesses and regulators.”
The industry bodies recommended restriction in stale-strawing with the simulation of individual vehicles, restricting old high emission motorbikes and vehicles.
The association argued that the ban could be imposed very quickly as a result of the ban, and if the sales of the gas-powered motorbikes could be out of a rock for foreign businesses, then warned.
Giang said that if she was delayed, she is not surprised, given that “the government has returned to the ambitios policies, when the implementation was not enough.”
If this happens, he said, the government will present it as an exercise adjustment rather than a failure, “Therefore when it can dent credibility, it will not be a great embarrassment amount for the party.”
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru