Scooter sales in India have soared in the past couple of years with more capable and easy to maintain automatic scooters being favoured among many. Scooters in India overtook motorcycle sales in terms of growth for the seventh consecutive fiscal year 2013-14. Leading the pack for scooters was none other than the Honda Activa, the bestselling scooter in India; falling back on India’s largest selling motorcycle the Hero Splendor.
While the Hero Splendor retained the pole position with over 19.67 lakh units sold in the financial year 2013-14, the Activa is gaining fast ground witnessing a growth of 39 percent, selling over 16.74 lakh units. The Activa dethroned the 100c Passion motorcycle that sold over 14.50 lakh units last year. Overall too, the scooter market grew at a faster pace registering 23 percent year-on-year growth, while motorcycle growth was rather sluggish with 3 percent growth witnessed.
The growth of scooters has catapulted over the years with women buyers and urban commuters being the major growth drivers. 65-70 percent of the sales came from metros and tier-II cities. A majority of male centric scooters like the Yamaha Ray Z, TVS Jupiter and Hero Maestro have also helped the scooter market to grow. However, even though the growth of scooters is high, the segment comprises only one third of the total two-wheeler market in the country.
The high growth of scooters has primarily come from Honda in India. The Activa was the only scooter to make it to the top 10 two-wheelers list sold in the last financial year. The new scooters are technologically advanced, fuel efficient and stylish. They are also far more practical with enhanced storage capacity for commuters. With the Honda Activa 125 launched in the country, the Japanese manufacturer looks forward to challenge the Splendor for the numero uno position in the two-wheeler market.
Hero MotoCorp on the other hand is in the process of launching new and updated products. The largest motorcycle maker ventured into the scooter space in 2006 and retails the country’s two other best selling scooters, the Pleasure and Maestro. Hero has also updated the Splendor with new iSmart technology for improved fuel efficiency, apart from other cosmetic changes.
Source – Hindustan Times
