2-wheeler sales accelerate in December 2017, up 44% YoY

The last month of calendar year 2017 has registered healthy growth of 43.71 percent YoY in the domestic two-wheeler market. The YoY growth rate is derived after taking into account the sales numbers submitted by Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company, Royal Enfield and Suzuki Motorcycle India.

The total two-wheeler sales (based on data taken from the above- mentioned six companies) in December 2017 stood at 12,54,818 units, thereby recording a good YoY growth of 43.71 percent. The six companies taken into account thus far had reported total sales of 8,73,159 units in December 2016.

Honda stands as the largest YoY gainer by adding additional sales volumes of 1,58,068 units or 77.05 percent growth YoY, closely followed by Hero MotoCorp, which has added 1,42,529 units to its December 2016 sales performance.

This impressive YoY growth, however, can be partly attributed to the low base in the market, which saw vehicle demand crash during November and December 2016 under the impact of demonetisation, as well as the return of demand for commuter bikes.

Although Autocar Professional had estimated a higher level of growth in December, more clarity will come once SIAM releases the industry sales data later this month.

India’s largest two-wheeler company, Hero MotoCorp has reported sales of 472,731 units in December 2017 (up 43 percent YoY). It had sold 330,202 units in December 2016. The company has also recorded cumulative sales of more than seven million units for CY2017 – a first in its history. It has registered total cumulative sales of 7,207,363 units during CY 2017. Hero’s cumulative sales of the three quarters ended December 2017 (in FY2017-18) stood at 5,585,558 units (up 11 percent YoY).

According to Pawan Munjal, CMD and CEO, Hero MotoCorp, “2017 has been a landmark year in our strategic endeavour to further consolidate our market leadership. Despite the challenging industry environment, we successfully created a series of benchmarks, not only for the Indian market but also for the global automotive industry. Starting with our first global product launch in Argentina in January, we have continued to delight the customers with our technologically-advanced and youthful range of new two-wheelers. This has clearly been reflected in the strong demand pattern for our motorcycles and scooters. We are now entering the last quarter of this fiscal with a strong focus on the premium segment and scooters and we are confident of sustaining our growth momentum.”

The company launched three motorcycles last month – the 125cc Super Splendor and the 110cc Passion Pro and Passion X Pro – to boost its sales in the mass and executive commuter motorcyle segment.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has reported sales of 363,226 units in December 2017, up a whopping 77 percent YoY. Just like its rival Hero MotoCorp, its sales had crashed in December 2016 due to demonetisation. It had sold 205,158 units then.

Additionally, CY2017 has been a good year for HMSI as it has not only crossed the sales landmark of five million units in a 12-month period for the first time, but it also appears to be inching closer to the six-million unit mark. Notably, HMSI has recorded sales of 5,794,893 units in CY2017.

“For the first time in its 17 years of Indian operations, Honda’s two-wheeler sales have surpassed 5 million sales mark in a single calendar year,” quotes the company release.

Commenting on HMSI’s performance in 2017 and giving his outlook on FY2017-18, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president - Sales & Marketing, HMSI said, “Looking back, 2017 was the year of disruption for the industry. Accelerated customer buying shift within segments saw scooters becoming popular in the traditionally motorcycle dominated states too. New capacity expansion, three new product launches and increased network penetration in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets resulted in Honda successfully breaching the five-million sales mark for the first time in 2017. Moving ahead, we are confident of meeting our target of 6 million unit sales in 2017-18.”

The company has reported domestic sales of 124,408 motorcycles (up 133 percent YoY) and 238,818 scooters (up 57 percent YoY) in December 2017. While Honda’s motorcycle sales are driven by the demand for CB Shine variants, its recently launched 125cc scooter Grazia has become one of the top 10 bestselling scooters in India in its first month of launch. 

TVS Motor Co’s domestic two-wheeler sales stood at 207,778 units in December 2017, up 35.4 percent YoY. The company had reported sales of 153,456 units in December 2016. Its scooter sales grew by an impressive 50.5 percent YoY, from 55,557 units in December 2016 to 83,640 units in December 2017. The motorcycle portfolio recorded YoY growth of 63.7 percent with sales increasing from 58,211 units in December 2016 to 95,281 units in December 2017.

While Bajaj Auto has sold 112,930 units in December 2017, recording a YoY growth of 5.87 percent. It had sold 106,665 units in December 2016, Royal Enfield has reported sales of 65,367 units for December 2017. It has registered YoY growth of 16.07 percent over 56,316 units sold in December 2016.

Suzuki Motorcycle India has reported domestic sales of 32,786 units, up from 21,362 units in December 2016. The YoY growth of more than 53 percent can be attributed to the strong demand of its bestselling model – the Access 125 scooter.

On the cumulative front, Suzuki has sold 420,736 units during the April-December 2017 period, up by 39.31 percent YoY. The company had reported sales of 302,008 units during the corresponding period from the last fiscal. 

Commenting on this performance, Sajeev Rajasekhran, EVP, Sales and Marketing, SMIPL said, “While December is typically a lean month for two-wheelers, we are thrilled to have been able to record a year-on-year growth of 50 percent during this month as well. With over 400,000 sales completed in this financial year already, we are well poised to achieve our annual target of 500,000 sales. For Suzuki Motorcycle India, 2017 has been a special year. Not only have we enjoyed a stellar growth in terms of sales, but also as a brand we have grown in leaps and bounds. 2018 promises to be even bigger and better with exciting products, announcements and partnerships in the offing.”