The growth story of the two-wheeler and commercial vehicle (CV) segments continued for yet another month. Though some of the jump in sales is due to the low base of 2008, the numbers were largely ahead of the Street’s expectations. The top 1-2 players, which control 70-85 per cent of the total market in the respective categories, churned out strong sales volume for December 2009.
Hero Honda’s volumes spurted 74 per cent year-on-year to 3.75 lakh units. While urban sales continued to remain good, sales in rural markets did not falter despite the weak monsoons. With this, the company has achieved a third successive quarter of a million units in sales in the current fiscal.
The company had launched the Karizma ZMR, upgraded version of Hunk, both at the premium end and a special edition of its Splendor plus bike. The company is planning to launch 3-4 bikes by March 2010 and going by the current trend in sales, it is likely to touch the 4-million mark of sales for 2009-10.
Bajaj Auto, too, reported a healthy set of numbers. On a lower base (December 2008 saw sales of only 1.19 lakh two wheelers) and steady sales of its two key brands, Pulsar and Discover, the company recorded an 85 per cent year-on-year spurt in two-wheeler sales to 2.2 lakh units. The company’s focus continues to be the Pulsar and the Discover, which constitute about 60 per cent of motorbike sales.
Despite the launch of the Pulsar 135 LS in early-December 2009, monthly sales for this range of bikes fell below the 50,000 mark for the first time since September. Going ahead, the company plans to launch another bike in April 2010 and hopes to increase its market share from 32 per cent to 40 per cent.
TVS Motors, despite sluggish exports, saw its overall sales move up 42 per cent year-on-year to 1.02 lakh units. Going ahead, strong rural sales, demand from the executive segment and higher incomes in the hands of government employees (aided by the Sixth Pay Commission payout) should keep motorcycles sales buoyant for the industry.
After a disastrous December 2008 quarter, when sales were on a free fall, Tata Motors has seen a smart pickup in demand over the last few months and December 2009 was no exception. The doubling of sales year-on-year to 51,267 units for the month was largely on account of higher sales of CV, which was hit the hardest in the economic downturn.
M&HCVs sales at 15,302 units were up 218 per cent year-on-year and 22 per cent compared with November 2009, and its best since March 2008. LCV sales also nearly doubled to 18,217 units. Higher retail sales from Nano (3,610 units), Indica and the Indigo range helped push passenger vehicle (PV) sales by 55 per cent y-o-y to 15,662 units. On a cumulative basis, PV sales grew by a fifth year-on-year in the first nine months of 2009-10.
While the Indica range grew 7 per cent over the fiscal, Indigo sales fell 7 per cent despite the recently launched Manza. On the other hand, in the UV (Sumo/Safari) segment, volumes were lower by 20 per cent and were in sharp contrast to M&M’s performance. Overall, the outlook for the sector continues to look good. However, stock prices have already run up quite a bit and are fairly priced, except for Tata Motors which analysts believe is expensive.
