After recording a fall in sales for two straight months in a row, the two-wheeler industry recorded a growth in sales last month buoyed by the festive cheer in demand.
Sales data from top manufacturers, excluding Bajaj Auto, show that sales rose 14% in October to 1,025,668 units as against 900,048 units sold in the same month a year ago. Bajaj will likely release its numbers tomorrow.
Hero Motocorp, the largest two-wheeler manufacturer saw a growth of three% during the reporting month at 529,215 units as against 512,238 units sold in the same month last year. The Delhi-based company was the worst hit in the slowdown period recording negative sales for two months.
The period of Navaratri and Dussera saw retail sales (dealer to customers) of 350,000 units in the space of 15 days, claims Hero Motocorp.
Anil Dua, Senior Vice-President (Marketing & Sales), Hero MotoCorp Ltd said, “The entire range of our new Hero-branded models, including the new launches – Maestro and Ignitor – has been lapped up by our customers, which is reflected in these numbers. With Diwali around the corner, we are prepared for even better retail sales in the month of November as well. We hope that the improved market sentiment will sustain itself as we go forward into the rest of this fiscal".
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, the second biggest player in the domestic space, maintained stellar growth during the month. The company recorded 41% growth in sales at 250,606 units as compared to 178,181 units.
Yadvinder S Guleria, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India said, "Honda’s sales in the 9 day auspicious Navratri-Dushera period has grown at an overwhelming 91% compared to last year same period. Customer demand for Honda products has been highly unprecedented. Despite the recent capacity expansion, Honda reached its combined peak production capacity in October'12 and market demand for Honda 2Wheelers still far outweighs the supply."
New launches from Yamaha and Suzuki also helped them achieve growth. India Yamaha Motor launched the light automatic scooter Ray while Suzuki has been promoting the 110cc economy bike Hayate.
Experts say that two-wheelers companies are expected to keep up the momentum at least in the first half of this month. "Companies like Hero were saddled with huge stock at the dealer end, this has cleared to some extent. Diwali should usher in good volumes growth for companies", said an analyst.
