Sales gap between Hero MotoCorp and Honda closest ever

Although overall sales in April 2017 by two-wheeler OEMs indicate a good start to the new financial year, the month has just gained historic importance. Autocar Professional has learnt that Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has recorded its best-ever monthly sales, and its April performance is the closest it has ever registered to that of its arch-rival, industry leader Hero MotoCorp.

The monthly sales of the top two companies, also erstwhile partners, typically remain within a comfortable gap of over 100,000-125,000 units or more; July 2016 was a rare month when Honda’s sales were just 91,000 units behind Hero MotoCorp numbers.

However, with new trends catching up in the domestic two-wheeler segment, the market is witnessing new dynamics wherein aggressive companies are eating into the market shares of their competitors. TVS Motor Company surpassing Bajaj Auto to become the third largest two-wheeler player in India in FY2014-15 is one such example.

In April 2017, while Hero has reported sales of 591,306 units, Honda has announced sales of 551,884 units, which clearly indicates that the latter has come anxiously close to the industry leader. Honda trails by only 39,422 units to Hero’s monthly performance in April.

Battle for supremacy
In its official release today, Hero MotoCorp maintains that the trend of robust sales will continue in May 2017 as well due to the ongoing marriage season. Hero MotoCorp, which has been recently acknowledged as the Indian MNC of the year by the All India Management Association (AIMA) for expanding its operations globally, has raised prices across its portfolio in the range of Rs 500–Rs 2,200.

Honda, on the other hand, has crossed the 550,000 unit monthly sales milestone for the first time. According to the company, the rapid growth is driven by the sales of its automatic scooter brands, which have recorded retails of over 350,000 units for the first time in April.

According to SIAM data, while Hero MotoCorp registered domestic sales of 6,483,655 units in FY2016-17, Honda reported sales of 4,725,067 units during the same period. Honda trailed Hero by 1,758,588 units for the 12-month period.

In FY2015-16, Hero had reported annual domestic sales of 6,421,913 units. Honda, on the other hand, had sold 4,283,690 units and stood second to the industry leader by a large margin of 2,138,223 units.

In terms of the overall share in the domestic two-wheeler market, Hero MotoCorp’s performance has been on a decline. In FY2013-14, Hero MotoCorp’s share stood at 41.30 percent compared to Honda’s 24.03 percent. In the last fiscal (FY2016-17), Hero’s market share stood at 36.86 percent and inching closer by the year Honda reported its share at 26.86 percent.

For its April performance, HMSI now claims that its market share stands at 33 percent, its highest ever. With new president and CEO, Minoru Kato at the helm of affairs, HMSI is now chasing a target of achieving sales of six million units in the ongoing fiscal.

Recommended reading: Top 10 two-wheelers in 2016-17