New bike, scooter sales go up in September 2019

Taking the domestic sales statistics of five leading motorcycle and scooter manufacturers for September 2019 and comparing them with their August 2019 performance indicates a 9 percent month-on-month growth. The comparison points to a 21 percent decline but that story is the same for nearly all vehicle segments.

Like passenger vehicle market leader Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp is the bellwether of the two-wheeler industry. The world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer has reported sales of 6,12,204 units of motorcycles and scooters in 2019, down 18.21 percent from last year (September 2018: 7,48,535). However, September 2019 sales are a 12.66 percent growth over August 2019 sales of 5,45,406 units. 

Sanjay Bhan, Head of Sales, Aftersales & Parts, Hero MotoCorp, said: “Growth in the market is driven by first-time buyers, and we have introduced a host of special schemes including low down payment, aggressive interest rates and easy EMIs. There is also a big segment of customers who are looking to replace their existing two-wheelers, so we have introduced a festive exchange bonus of Rs 3,000 on our scooter range. Also, customers looking to upgrade to the Xtreme range in the premium motorcycle category can avail of a special exchange bonus of Rs 5,000. Customers can also get attractive financial benefits by making the purchase through specific apps."

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, which has recently launched its Honda Activa in BS6 guise, clocked a total sale of 4,55,892 units, which marks a 12.39 decline (September 2018: 520,400). However, with August 2019 numbers at 4,25,664, September 2019 sales constitute a 7.10 percent month-on-month increase, indicating that demand is gradually inching. In a bid to accelerate sales during the festive season, Honda buyers can get benefits of up to Rs 11,000 on any two-wheeler model. An additional discount of Rs 7,000 can be availed when you make an online payment for the models using Paytm.

TVS Motor Co says it has registered sales of 243,163 two-wheelers in September 2019, down 32.65 percent YoY (September 2018: 361,097). The company says, "Planned rationalisation of BS4 stocks is reflecting on the sales growth difference between September 2018 and September 2019." However, last month's domestic market performance is 10.76 percent better than August 2019's 2,19,528 units.

Pune-based motorcycle major Bajaj Auto, which is gunning for a 25 percent share of the Indian motorcycle market in FY2020, has reported a 20 percent drop in its total sales in September 2019. With 1,77,348 units, total motorcycle sales saw a year-on-year drop of 35 percent (September 2018: 273,029 units). However, this number is 4,324 units more than what it sold in the previous month (August 2019: 1,73,024) and marks a 2.49 percent MoM growth.

In the first half of FY2020 (April-September 2019), Bajaj Auto saw a YoY drop of 12 percent (1,132,286 units as against 1,287,133 units in 2018) in its domestic market for motorcycles, whereas it reported a growth of 8 percent (934,581 units) in its exports as compared to the same period in 2018 (869,373 units).

Suzuki Motorcycle India, however, claims to have clocked its highest-ever monthly domestic sale of 63,382 units during September 2019, which is a 0.38 percent flat growth (September 2018: 63,137). In August 2019, the company sold 62,785 units, which means September numbers are up by about 1 percent.