Sales fell a bit for most brands in December due to the year ending and the news of many bikes getting updates in 2016. The 2016 Auto Expo will see many new launches.
With increasing premium bike sales in India, motorcycle manufacturers are very happy. More and more brands are entering our market and the choice of machines available is truly drool-worthy. The month of December however saw demand of most products declining. The major reason for the same is the year ending and many customers prefer to wait for a month or two to get their hands on 2016 bikes. Few motorbikes did register positive growth.
Starting with Royal Enfield, the month of December was almost similar to the month of November for them. Sales were almost the same and the biggest reason behind the same is the huge fan following and the long waiting periods for most bikes. The Classic 350 continues to be their star performer. The upcoming Himalayan is also expected to boost the tally. Sales of the KTM Duke 200 and RC 200 fell down by around 10% whereas the 390 twins saw a fall of almost 50% owing to the 2016 model update on the cards.
Harley-Davidson sales have been a bit of a surprise. The sales of their cheapest offering, the Street 750 fell by a huge chunk to 87 units and at the same time, sales of the Iron 883 increased by a similar number. This portrays that many of the Street 750 prospects are moving to bigger capacity motorcycles within the brand. Moving on to Kawasaki, the sales increased by a humble seven units. The major sales drivers are the Ninja 300 and Z800. The latter is the most value for money offering in its segment.
Triumph sales fell down by around 20%. This was predicted earlier because multiple bikes in the portfolio are being updated for 2016 and the all new Bonneville will also be launched next month. When customers plonk multiple lakhs on a motorcycle, they wish to get the latest one even if that means waiting for a while. The Tiger range remains to be a strong seller for the practicality it offers. Suzuki sales remained almost the same and the Hayabusa was the highest seller despite being a really old bike.
Honda seems to be content selling the CBR250R which is way too old now and needs to be replaced by the CBR300R which might happen at the 2016 Auto Expo. Still the quarter-litre CBR outsold the Mahindra Mojo which managed 78 units last month, a good number considering sales are open in only 5 cities. The CBR650F fever has fizzled down with the bike finding only three new homes in December. The high price is proving to be a deterrent for its sales.
Yamaha is also facing problems selling the R3 since its dealers aren’t willing to take efforts, the Ninja 300 outsold the R3 last month. The price is also high for what the bike offers. With the year changing, lets see what’s in store for bikers as well as manufacturers.
