Mopeds still the top choice for TVS

Chennai-based TVS Motors, India's fourth largest two-wheeler maker is going strong on one of its most trusted models. The humble moped, which has seen the exit of all manufacturers over the years, has only grown in numbers for the company commanding a 45 per cent of total sales.

Mopeds saw sales of 58,618 units in August, which though is a slight fall of 0.3 per cent when compared to 58,818 units sold in the same month a year ago, it is nearly double when compared to monthly tally of December 2008 which recorded sales of little over 33,000 units.

TVS has complete monopoly in this segment. Domestic moped sales for the company grew to 325,527 units during the period April-August this year as compared to 315,423 units recorded in the same period last year, a growth of 3.2 per cent, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

At a time when there are no players to compete with TVS Motors in this segment, the company has been able to maintain a stronghold in the moped segment since the past few years. Interestingly, TVS's total domestic sales fall is higher at nearly seven per cent with motorcycles leading the charts. 

In December 2008, for instance, there were two other players in the moped segment apart from TVS Motors. This included Majestic Auto and Kinetic Motor. For that month, while TVS sold 33,719 units, Majestic recorded no sales.  In December 2007, Majestic had sold 40 units of the moped. Kinetic pursued ambitions in the motorcycle segment and so decided to abandon mopeds altogether.

The two other players, eventually decided to move out of the moped segment due to financial crunch, paving way for monopoly of TVS Motors in this segment.

Mopeds are still the most popular mode of transport in Indian towns, especially in the southern markets. Known for their high utility value such as superior load carrying capacity these two-wheelers have been able to hold fort even as other more modern alternatives have made their way into the market.

They are economical, easy to ride and ideal if one does not need to go on long journeys. They are light weight and take up very little space.