Hero Honda sales rise 3%; Bajaj, TVS slide

Hero Honda has won the battle for supremacy in the domestic two-wheeler market in November even as rivals Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors continue to slide.

The New Delhi-based, Hero Honda, reported a marginal sales growth of 2.80 per cent at 288,027 units in November against 280,171 units in the corresponding month previous year.

The company launched a 150cc bike, Hunk, in October, which the company claims to have been received well in the domestic markets. Hero Honda had more than doubled its volume and share in the premium segment this year, a company release said.

"The consistent performance of the company has been possible due to the company's multi-focal strategy of bringing in new products across segments, supporting them with strong communication and augmenting its distribution network. With this growth momentum, Hero Honda continues to steadily consolidate its more than 50 per cent share in domestic motorcycle market," the release added.

Bajaj, meanwhile, saw its motorcycle sales slipping 2 per cent to 209,876 units during the month. This happened despite higher sales recorded by its Platina model, which was offered at a discount of Rs 4,000, thus making it the cheapest 100cc bike in the country.

The company has planned to ramp up the production of the newly launched XCD125 motorcycle to 75,000 units a month. Besides, the discount on Platina has been extended to the end of December.

The overall sales of the company's two- and three-wheelers dropped 3 per cent to 235,797 units. The company said that its market share in the 125-250cc category, which accounted for close to 50 per cent of the motorcycle market, was likely to increase on account of the XCD125 bike.

Meanwhile, TVS Motors, the country's third largest two-wheeler maker, has recorded a fall of 7.40 per cent in domestic sales at 102,358 in November compared with 110,539 units in the same month last year. The Chennai-based company saw motorcycles sales dropping 22.46 per cent to 48,345 units during the month compared with 62,350 units last year.

The company has finally begun production of the much-awaited Flame, Apache RTR EFI and the TVS Scooty EV and will formally launch these products in the current month.