Bike, scooter sales slow down in December 2023

The final month of 2023 saw all two-wheeler OEMs report a decline in their monthly sales. Keep reading to find out how each OEM fared. 

Hero MotoCorp: 3,77,842 units

2023 was an important year for Hero as it finally entered the premium space with the new Karizma XMR and the co-developed Harley-Davidson X440. And as is custom, Hero continues to stay at the top of the Indian two-wheeler market, but even so, it has reported a substantial 20.67 percent decline compared to its November 2023 numbers (4,76,286 units). Additionally, Hero reported a decrease of 0.92 percent year on year (December 2022: 3,81,365 units). 

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI): 2,86,101 units

Compared to the 4,20,677 units it sold in November 2023, HMSI reported a 32 percent decline last month. However, compared to its numbers for the same month in 2022 (2,33,151 units), Honda saw a 22.71 percent increase.

Honda recently launched the Transalp XL750 middleweight adventure bike in India and added a new variant to its modern classic lineup called the CB350.

TVS Motor Company: 2,14,988 units

In comparison to its November 2023 sales numbers (2,87,017 units), TVS reported a significant 25 percent decline last month. Even year-on-year, the Hosur-based brand reported a 5.57 percent decrease (December 2022: 2,27,666 units). 

This past year TVS came out with its naked sportbike based on the 310 platform with the Apache RTR 310 and also released the cutting-edge X e-scooter. 

Bajaj Auto: 1,58,370 units

Just like the other OEMs on this list, Bajaj too reported a 27.55 percent decline in December, compared to its November 2023 sales figure (2,18,597 units). However, the Chakan-based brand did manage to better its own numbers from December 2022 (1,25,525 units) by a 26.17 percent margin. 

The past year saw Bajaj launch the new Triumph Speed 400, Scrambler 400 X, both in domestic and international markets, as well as the Gen 3 390 Duke. It also added a more affordable variant to its Chetak line-up, called the Urbane. 

Suzuki: 69,025 units

Despite reporting a 5.62 percent month-month decline in its December sales (November 2023: 73,135 units), Suzuki finished ahead of Royal Enfield in the grand scheme of things. And compared to its rather small December 2022 tally of 40,905 units, it reported over 68.74 percent increase. 

Suzuki has recently removed the venerable V-Strom 650 XT from its website and has been testing the new V-Strom 800DE in India for quite some time now, so a launch might be on the cards. 

Royal Enfield: 57,291 units

Royal Enfield reported a 23.75 percent decrease compared to its November 2023 sales numbers (75,137 units). Compared to its December 2022 numbers (59,821 units), it reported a slight 4.2 percent decrease as well.

2023 was when Royal Enfield finally bestowed the 650 twins with alloy wheels and it debuted its new Sherpa 450 liquid-cooled mill in the new Himalayan.