With BS-IV upgrades and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) norms changing market dynamics in the past months, the Indian two wheeler industry is showing positive signs of growth once again and July 2017 was a testament to the same. Two wheeler makers including Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Honda and Royal Enfield have posted positive numbers with more vehicles moved out last month. The signs are certainly positive and manufacturers will be aiming to carry this momentum into the festive season which is just few weeks away.
The Suzuki Access 125 and Gixxer are the company's bestselling models
Suzuki Motorcycle India has registered a highly impressive 62 per cent year-on-year growth in July 2017. The Japanese two wheeler giant sold a total of 40,038 units last month, a a significant increase over the 24,703 units that were moved out in July last year. The bike maker also announced that it has recorded a growth of 40.6 per cent between April-July 2017, clocking a total sale of 166,456 units including the premium range of motorcycles.
While Suzuki hasn't revealed a break up of individual models, the numbers are certainly commendable. More so, considering the bike maker has not had an all-new launch in a year in the commuter motorcycle segment. The company's popular selling Suzuki Access 125 scooter and Gixxer and SF 155 cc motorcycles, continue to dominate the volumes.
Honda sells almost twice the number of scooters in India over motorcycles
It was another successful month of growing sales for Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI). The two wheeler maker registered domestic sale of 511,939 units in July 2017, as opposed to 429,551 units in July last year. The manufacturer also announced that its domestic sales grew by 19 per cent, whereas Honda recorded its highest ever export in a single month shipping out 32,569 units. A growth of 34 per cent over the same period last year.
Honda India's automatic scooter sales stood at 343,878 units in July 2017, growing year-on-year by 40 per cent, while motorcycle sales were higher by 11 per cent at 168,061 units. Honda's cumulative (domestic + export) sales last month are up by 20 per cent, while the company's cumulative market share stands at 28.8 per cent.
Largely unaffected by the overall slowdown in the two wheeler segment, Hero MotoCorp continued to bring in aggressive volumes in July 2017. The company sold a whopping 623,269 units last month, recording a healthy growth of 17.1 per cent over the same period last year. The bike maker's growth momentum has been consistent since the beginning of 2017-18 financial year. The company even registered its highest ever quarterly sales between April-June 2017.
Hero says that sales were sluggish in the first few days of July due to the GST transition, but the company's volumes remain unaffected. July 2017 also marks the third consecutive month for Hero MotoCorp to record six-lakh plus sales in the Indian market, having recorded 6.24 lakh sales in June and 6.33 lakh units in May respectively this year. Wti the strong momentum, the company will surely aim to set a new sales record as the festive season is on the horizon.
RE Classic 350 Redditch Red
Royal Enfield is another bike maker that is showing no signs of slowing down. The manufacturer recorded total (domestic + export) sales of 64,459 units in July this year, a growth of 21 per cent over the 53,378 units sold in July 2016. The company's domestic sales stood at 63,157 units last month, as against 51,128 units, growing by 21 per cent.
On the other hand, exports grew by 4 per cent with Royal Enfield shipping 1302 units in July over 1250 units exported during the same month last year. The company's popular selling models include the Royal Enfield Classic 350 as well as the Thunderbird series. Meanwhile, RE is also expected to introduce the fuel injected Himalayan this month that will help the numbers go up, with company accepting bookings for the model.
(TVS Jupiter)Like other two-wheeler manufacturers, TVS too recorded a growth of nine per cent in July 2017 over July 2016. TVS sold approximately 2,19,396 two-wheelers domestically, growing at 6 per cent over July 2016 where it sold 2,06,605 units. The company's total exports also grew by a solid 26.8 per cent. TVS exported 50,957 units in July 2017. The company says that the motorcycles sales grew by 15 per cent while the scooter sales went up by a solid 35 per cent. The company is positive that the sales will continue to grow further in the coming months. TVS is currently the third biggest two-wheeler manufacturer in India after Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India and Hero MotoCorp.
(Bajaj V12)Till now it is only Bajaj Auto, which has seen a decline in domestic two-wheeler sales, by 5 per cent. The company sold 1,64,915 units in July 2017 as opposed to 1,74,324 units in July 2016. Bajaj's exports too went down by 10 per cent. The company exported 1,00,267 units in July 2017 and in comparison, it sold 1,11,203 units in July 2016. The overall decline for Bajaj two-wheelers (domestic+exports) was 7 per cent. The total sales (domestic+exports) for Bajaj Auto in July 2017 was 2,65,182 units and for July 2016, the figure was 2,85,527 units.
