Hero MotoCorp, India’s largest bike maker, now shares the podium with Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI). Reports indicate that with a strong 33 per cent growth in sales, HMSI has replaced Bajaj Auto to claim the second position for April 2017. In terms of numbers, Bajaj Auto seems to have fared the worst and slipped down to fourth position with minus 19 per cent sales. Numbers for Bajaj Auto plunged from 200,433 units in April 2016 to 161,930 units in April 2017.
Speaking about Honda’s impressive feat, YS Guleria, senior-VP for sales and marketing at HMSI said, “We’re happy that for the first time, we’ve become the number two motorcycle-maker, overtaking Bajaj Auto by a wide margin (over 21,330 units). This was possible after our overall sales jumped 34 per cent in April. Our bikes volume rose 22 per cent to 1,83,266 units from 1,50,711 a year ago.” The company attributes its considerable volume growth to a 40 per cent rise in Activa sales whose monthly sales crossed 3.5 lakh units in April.
Although the top-player in the Indian motorcycle segment, Hero MotoCorp, witnessed a slight drop in sales, it has still managed to stay on the top of the list. The demonetisation initiative undertaken by the Indian government has affected the two-wheeler segment to a considerable extent. Although most major bike-makers in the country have experienced a considerable drop in sales, Honda has been an exception due to its top-selling automatic scooter, the Activa, in India.
