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Sales of two-wheelers, especially motorcycles, are not headed north but helmet stocks are heading south.
There has been a sudden surge in demand for helmets from Chennai. This has exhausted inventory of leading helmet manufacturers and dealers.
A Madras High Court order had made wearing helmets mandatory for the rider and the pillion-rider from July 1. Doing away with the previous rule of a Rs 100 fine for not wearing helmets, the government, based on the court order, said driving licences and other two-wheeler documents of the offenders would be impounded.
The Capital of Tamil Nadu is estimated to have 3.5 million two-wheelers.
“We sold over 100,000 helmets in Chennai after the state government notified the order in mid-June,” said Rajiv Kapur, managing director of Steelbird, a maker of helmets and bike accessories. “We usually maintain an inventory of 60,000-70,000 helmets at any point of time and there is a stock of 2,000 to 10,000 units with many of our dealers. A sudden demand from Chennai exhausted the entire inventory. It may take a few months to rebuild the stocks.”
Helmet manufacturing is largely unorganised in India and the price range begins from Rs 100 and goes up to Rs 15,000.
Kapur, whose company has the capacity to manufacture 400,000 helmets a month, said he had an order book of as many helmets. Usually, the open market order for Steelbird was about 100,000 units. The company gets sales volume through agreements with two-wheeler manufacturers such as Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and Yamaha India and with the Canteen Stores Department. “These contracts have a penalty clause and I cannot divert stocks to these places to the open market,” said Kapur.
Madhu B Khurana, chairman and managing director of Studds Accessories, another helmet maker, said an artificial demand was created as new traders wanted to enter the sector after the court order. “An impression of huge demand was created and as most manufacturers are based in the North, it took time to meet the demand in Chennai. Sellers were not sure the order will be imposed strictly and so were not well-prepared. The situation is better today,” said Khurana.
There has been a sudden surge in demand for helmets from Chennai. This has exhausted inventory of leading helmet manufacturers and dealers.
A Madras High Court order had made wearing helmets mandatory for the rider and the pillion-rider from July 1. Doing away with the previous rule of a Rs 100 fine for not wearing helmets, the government, based on the court order, said driving licences and other two-wheeler documents of the offenders would be impounded.
The Capital of Tamil Nadu is estimated to have 3.5 million two-wheelers.
“We sold over 100,000 helmets in Chennai after the state government notified the order in mid-June,” said Rajiv Kapur, managing director of Steelbird, a maker of helmets and bike accessories. “We usually maintain an inventory of 60,000-70,000 helmets at any point of time and there is a stock of 2,000 to 10,000 units with many of our dealers. A sudden demand from Chennai exhausted the entire inventory. It may take a few months to rebuild the stocks.”
Helmet manufacturing is largely unorganised in India and the price range begins from Rs 100 and goes up to Rs 15,000.
Kapur, whose company has the capacity to manufacture 400,000 helmets a month, said he had an order book of as many helmets. Usually, the open market order for Steelbird was about 100,000 units. The company gets sales volume through agreements with two-wheeler manufacturers such as Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and Yamaha India and with the Canteen Stores Department. “These contracts have a penalty clause and I cannot divert stocks to these places to the open market,” said Kapur.
Madhu B Khurana, chairman and managing director of Studds Accessories, another helmet maker, said an artificial demand was created as new traders wanted to enter the sector after the court order. “An impression of huge demand was created and as most manufacturers are based in the North, it took time to meet the demand in Chennai. Sellers were not sure the order will be imposed strictly and so were not well-prepared. The situation is better today,” said Khurana.
