 "Suzuki Motorcycles plans to double exports in FY15")
Japanese automajor Suzuki Motorcycle India Ltd (SMIL) plans to double its exports this fiscal to over 20,000 units, while its aims to sell 500,000 units in the domestic market.
The company is betting big on its newly launched 110 cc personal segment scooter Let's to take its sales up from 370,000 units last fiscal to around 500,000 units in FY15. "We are looking at selling close to 100,000 units of the Let's in India. We would also consider exporting the product if there is demand from certain countries," said Kenji Hirozawa, vice president, strategic planning, sales & marketing, SMIL.
The company currently exports to neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, besides some countries in Latin America and West Asia. It had started exports from last year, and had exported around 10,000 units of motorcycles.
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As for the domestic market, the company is planning increase its dealer footprint from a current 600 to around 1,000 within this financial year. It currently enjoys an 8% market share in the scooters segment, and a 3% market share in the overall two-wheeler segment in the country. Hirozawa informed that while the market size for scooters was around 4 million per annum, the overall two-wheeler market in the country was around 14 million units per annum.
As for Gujarat, SMIL is looking at increasing its share from a current 14% in the scooters segment to around 20% in the coming months primarily on the back of the new Let's which is priced Rs 46,223 ex-showroom in Ahmedabad. Nearly, 16-17% of the company's overall sales comes from Gujarat, and it would also take the dealership count here from a current 63 to 100 within the fiscal.
"We are strong in the scooters segment at the moment. In the motorcycle segment, the bulk of the sales of 100-110 cc bikes comes from the rural areas, where we do not have significant presence at the moment. Hence,it is most important to expand dealer network," he said.
SMIL currently has a production capacity of around 5.4 lakh units per annum at its Gurgaon plant, and it is making 34,000-35,000 units per month at the moment.