Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has pipped erstwhile partner and rival Hero MotoCorp in retail sales for the month of September 2022. This is for the first time in years that Hero, the world's largest two-wheeler maker by volumes, has lost ground in the two-wheeler business. According to retail sales data released by Vahan, HMSI sold 285,400 units last month, as against 251,939 units sold by Hero MotoCorp. The difference between both manufacturers stands at 33,461 units. Do note that data on Vahan is constantly being updated and factors in 1339 of 1441 RTOs in the country missing vehicle registration data from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshwadeep and Telangana.
The Activa remains Honda's most volumes-friendly offering competing with the Hero Splendor in terms of volumes
That said, it needs to be seen if Hero will be able to reverse this trend, once details on Vahan are completely updated for September 2022. Hero MotoCorp has remained the undisputed leader in the Indian two-wheeler space but sales data from previous months show that Honda has been steadily catching up to its former partner. The gap in retail sales between Hero and Honda stood at over 1.70 lakh in May 2022, dropping to under a lakh in June and about 53,356 units in July. It reduced further to 20,658 units in August this year.
| Retail Sales Data (as per Vahan) | Hero MotoCorp | Honda 2Wheelers India | Difference |
| April | 414,649 | 295,079 | 119,570 |
| May | 462,618 | 291861 | 170,757 |
| June | 385,132 | 286,074 | 99,058 |
| July | 326,656 | 273,300 | 53,356 |
| August | 304,713 | 284,145 | 20,568 |
| September | 251,939 | 285,400 | -33,461 |
Also Read: Two-Wheeler Sales September 2022: TVS Motors Cumulative Sales Up 9 Per Cent YoY
Meanwhile, Hero MotoCorp's despatches for the month of September 2022 also saw a drop in volumes. The company's wholesale figure stood at 519,980 units, a decline of about two per cent year-on-year. Domestic sales remained flat at 507,690 units while exports dropped by about 50 per cent year-on-year with 12,290 units shipped overseas. With respect to motorcycle sales, the company sold 480,237 units as against 489,217 units in September last year. Scooter sales saw a marginal drop at 39,743 units last month, as against 40,929 units sold during the same period last year. Honda 2Wheelers India was yet to share wholesale data at the time of filing this report. We will update this piece as and when the company shares its sales figures.
