ACI Motors, a concern of ACI Group, will assemble Yamaha motorcycles in Bangladesh.

The ACI board of directors has approved a plan to sign an agreement with the Japanese company, ACI Motors said in a statement posted on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday.

Under the deal, Yamaha motorcycles will be brought in completely knocked-down kits before being assembled in a plant at Rajendrapur in Gazipur.

“Demand for Yamaha brand motorcycle is increasing here, so we have decided to assemble it now…We will begin assembling the bikes within six months,” said a senior ACI official.

ACI sold 16,000 motorcycles last year and it would be 25,000 units this year, the official said.

The company estimates to assemble 30,000 units in its plant in the first year and taking it up to 50,000 within two to three years, generating Tk 500 crore in revenue.

ACI Limited, being the parent company, has a 67.5 percent stake in the subsidiary.

According to industry insiders, the increasing demand has contributed to the expansion of the overall motorcycle market in the country.

Nearly 200,000 units were sold in 2016 and 300,000 in 2017.

As the demand for motorcycles increases, eight firms, including Japan's Honda and Suzuki and India's Bajaj, TVS and Hero, are trying to gain a share of the market by setting up assembling and manufacturing plants.