While Royal Enfield generated the maximum volumes, almost all other manufacturers saw a marginal decline in sales. Yamaha finally opened its account with the new R3.
Over 13 lakh two-wheelers were sold in August 2015 with premium bike sales forming an extremely small yet significant part of the Indian motorcycle market. With more global manufacturers making their way to India, premium offerings’ sales are only expected to grow in the long term. That said, August saw sales plummet for most manufacturers, even though some others did find growth. Royal Enfield was sturdy as rock on the sales front selling 41,600 units in August with the Classic 350 being its best selling product, moving out 22,774 units. Sales for the Thunderbird, Bullet and Continental GT were also better than July 2015.
Also garnering positive sales for the month, KTM moved out a total of 2846 units in August, a 13% improvement in sales over July 2015. Moving east, Honda has seen a major bump in numbers after the arrival of the CBR650F which sold a healthy 26 units last month and has kept the overall sales positive. The litre-class CBR models accounted for five units while the Gold Wing had three takers. The other Japanese, Kawasaki saw sales drop by 50% month-on-month as every product ranging from the Z250 to ZX-14R saw volumes drop to half compared to July 2015. The upcoming single-cylinder models should help boost numbers in a big way.
Aggressive about India, Harley-Davidson witnessed a drop of 12% in sales over July this year. The Street 750 saw a stark drop of 30% in volumes selling 85 units and also clocked lower numbers than the Continental GT that sold 137 last month. Nonetheless, the SuperLow, Fat Bob, Softail Classic, Breakout and CVO Limited generated positive numbers over July 2015 while the Iron 883 was also a strong seller. Triumph India too saw a marginal dip in sales last month for the entry-level Bonneville, T100 and Thruxton, although the Daytona and Street Triple clocked positive numbers.
The Triumph Tiger 800 XR series sold a healthy 26 units last month, keeping the British automaker’s adventure series popular. With the British bike maker expanding its sales network, the volumes are certainly looking positive in the long term. Finally opening its books in the premium bike space, the Yamaha R3 sold a whopping 140 units last month and was the sole contender in the company’s lineup. The automaker also launched the new generation R1 and R1 M in India earlier this year, but is yet to commence deliveries we assume.
