The Big Picture – Everyone is in the race of having their own share of the Indian two–wheeler market as it is quite big in terms of volumes. Even though almost every manufacturer has recorded strong Year on Year growth, the market has seen a slight decline overall. The loss of sales volumes at Bajaj Auto’s camp due to strike has made them lose number two position in the market and hence this proved to be a moment of celebration for Honda. We will see how every manufacturer has contributed this month.
- Hero MotoCorp – In the following table Hero MotoCorp might look like a loser but the story is altogether different if we sneak inside the happenings within the company. This is the third month when the company sold less than 5 lakh units since January this year. Apart from such sales figures, the company has lot of ‘good’ things happening in July. The month began with an acquisition of 49.2% stakes in Erik Buell Racing (EBR). Hero also set up its first international assembly unit in Kenya and made announcements about the upcoming launch of the brand in Peru, scheduled for August. The motorcycle giant wants to make sure that no stone is left unturned and hence addressing both ends of the market, commuter segment as well as performance segment. This is evident, as they are expanding the consumer base for their commuter offerings by venturing into new continents and at the same time having expertise of EBR at their disposal to polish off their performance segment offerings. Overall the company witnessed a drop in sales of 2.93% on MoM but saw a marginal rise of 0.69% on YoY basis.
- Bajaj Auto – Bajaj Auto’s sales dropped drastically as the strike at their Pune plant has continued in the month of July as well, even though the automaker says there was no effect on sales due to the strike. The company shifted partial production of the Pulsar range to another of its manufacturing facility and is stabilising the output. Recently the company gave an ultimatum to worker’s union to resume the work within a week, but the plant is still shutdown as off now. In today’s competitive scenario the strike made the company to lose No. 2 spot to Japanese giant Honda. Sales report of the company shows fall in sales of 3.03% on MoM basis and that of 20.05% on YoY basis.
- Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India – Honda is a company which is continuously keeping the buzz afloat around their brand, since the past few months. Let it be the ongoing product onslaught or let it be the high use of media, the Japanese biggie is striving very hard to engrave their name on common people’s mind. This month they have a hammer in their hands to do so. Drop in sales numbers of Bajaj and good response to their own recently launched products, made them the No. 2 two-wheeler manufacturer in India, first time since their inception in our country. As per the company, their Dream series motorcycles got accepted very well and hence their motorcycle sales figure has crossed their scooter sales figure for the first time. In July, company’s sales increased by 13.91% compared to previous month as well as compared to July 2012.
- TVS Motor – TVS’s neutral approach towards the market is eating into their sales figures day by day. The Apache and Scooty are the two brands people loved the most till now. But the company is not at all paying attention in reviving it thoroughly. Thus every other manufacturer is taking the customers away from them. Overall TVS managed a drop in sales figure of 6.79% and 7.14% on MoM and YoY basis respectively.
- Yamaha Motorcycles – Yamaha did face the shame of recalling their first scooter, Ray. But that recalling act has not affected the company’s image, at least it looks like so, after seeing the strong rise in sales last month. The Japanese company’s sales volume has increased by a strong 57.19% (YoY) and that by 18.27% as compared to June 2013.
- Mahindra 2 Wheelers –Being the new entrant into the market and having faced some serious trouble initially, Mahindra did not want to take further risk. The company wanted to break the ice and they managed to do that with a serious blow. The feature loaded Centuro struck the market with awe and hence has a lion’s share of 10,158 units out of total 14,612 units sold in July. Mahindra is betting big on motorcycles and hence likely to launch one more product in this fiscal. The Indian automaker managed a YoY rise of 46.12% in sales figures.
- Suzuki Motorcycles – This time too we don’t have official sales figures from Suzuki Motocycles. The company is not releasing sales figures because it is doing very average numbers.
