Hero MotoCorp keeps rampaging Honda at bay in India’s booming 2W market

The month of April has a history of recording the closest sales gaps between the top two players in the two-wheeler market in India. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), the country’s second largest two-wheeler manufacturer, is fast moving to further close the monthly sales gap with its arch rival, Hero MotoCorp in the domestic market.

The Pawan Munjal-led Hero MotoCorp has reported total wholesale dispatches of 694,022 units (including exports) in April, thereby recording a YoY growth of 16.5 percent (April 2017: 595,706). Meanwhile, Honda has reported wholesale dispatches of 635,811 units in April 2018, its highest-ever run in the domestic market in a single month and YoY growth of 15 percent (April 2017: 551,732).

It is estimated that Honda’s domestic wholesale performance stands uncomfortably close to that of Hero MotoCorp’s in April 2018, yet again after a year.

How close is Honda to Hero’s numbers?
Although Hero MotoCorp has not revealed the split in its domestic and export sales at the moment, Autocar Professional estimates its average monthly exports to be in the region of 17,000 to 20,000 units, unless it is an exceptional month.

That makes Hero MotoCorp’s domestic dispatches to its retailers in April 2018 to be in the range of about 675,000 units – or slightly more. This clearly points out that Honda is nearly 40,000 units behind Hero MotoCorp in the domestic market. More clarity on numbers will come as soon as the apex industry body, SIAM releases its data for April 2018 next week. 

However, on the overall sales front, including the export shipments, Honda is hot on Hero’s heels with only 12,134 units separating the two, thanks to the Japanese major’s fast-growing export order book.

On the contrary, Hero MotoCorp’s export business, primarily to the neighboring countries, would be somewhat impacted as its Bangladesh plant had commenced operations in the last fiscal, thereby catering to the demand for two-wheelers in that country.

Honda trailed Hero by 33,923 units in April 2017
The closest these two companies have ever been in the domestic market performance was in April 2017. That’s when Honda’s domestic sales stood at 551,732 units and Hero MotoCorp’s stood at 585,655 units, as per SIAM data.

Last April, Autocar Professional was the first publication to point out that Honda was fast closing in on Hero MotoCorp in terms of the monthly sale performances. 

Nevertheless, Hero MotoCorp deserves to be applauded for retaining its market leadership, and even consolidating its position in a few categories, solely on the back of its existing product line up. The new updates – 125cc Super Splendor and the 110cc Passion XPro and Passion Pro – introduced in the market recently are aimed at boosting the monthly sales, along with reviving the declining demand for its Passion brand.

In the past six months, the company has provided clarity in its future direction via unveiling upcoming products from its product pipeline. This includes two motorcycles in the 200cc class (XPulse and Xtreme 200R) and two scooters (Maestro Edge 125 and Duet 125) in the surging 125cc category.

On the other hand, Honda has announced launch of a series of updated models later this year, all aimed at keeping up the demand for its products in the domestic market. With the new 160cc motorcycle – X-Blade – it clearly aims to further consolidate its position in the premium commuter category in the coming months. 

Both Hero MotoCorp and Honda are aggressively expanding their respective retail footprints across India. Notably, Honda is pursuing the demand for pre-owned two-wheelers in the unorganized market under its Best Deal network. The company already has an additional network of 200 outlets under its Best Deal business, which is focused on tapping latent demand in the Tier 2 and 3 cities. According to the company, in the last two years, it has already added more than 100,000 new customers under its brand. Although these numbers are not added to the monthly sales, these do add up to the brand’s presence across the country.

The no-holds-barred battle between Hero MotoCorp and Honda 2Wheelers keeps getting more interesting with every passing month. Stay tuned. 

Also read: 

Top 10 Two-Wheelers – FY2018 | Honda Activa outsells Hero Splendor by over 400,000 units

Top 10 motorcycles – FY2018 | Honda’s 125cc CB Shine outsells Hero’s Passion

Top 10 scooters – FY2018 | Honda Activa zips past the 3-million milestone