Gixxers give Suzuki India a good foothold in 150cc bike segment

The Gixxer and the Gixxer SF, Suzuki Motorcycle India’s latest entrants in the premium commuter motorcycle segment, are gaining reasonable traction in the market space, indicates sales data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

While the company had launched the single-cylinder, air-cooled, carburettor-fed 155cc Gixxer naked motorcycle in September 2014, its faired-variant rolled out recently, in April 2015.

In the seven months from its launch till end-March 2015, the Gixxer naked bike has sold 35,067 units in the domestic market, averaging sales of close to 5,000 units every month.

The company has, in the same period, exported 4,726 units of the bike, totalling the overall sales to be 39,793 units during September 2014-March 2015. Total production of the bike at Suzuki Motorcycle’s Gurgaon plant, during the same period, stood at 42,568 units. Suzuki carried over 2,775 units of the Gixxer model to FY2015-16.

During April 2015, which saw the domestic motorcycle segment fall by 2.77 percent YoY, Suzuki recorded domestic sales of 4,607 units of both the Gixxer models. The company exported 1,682 units during the month too.

According to Atul Gupta, executive vice-president, Suzuki Motorcycle India, the company can roll out up to a total of 9,000–10,000 Gixxer bikes per month, and is aiming to sell close to 100,000 units in 12 months. Of this, since September last year, Suzuki has already sold 46,082 units (including exports).

Talking to Autocar Professional recently, Gupta had underlined about the go-to-market strategy of the Gixxer bikes, boosting the company’s presence in the segment.

“When we were conducting research for the Gixxer earlier, we found two types of buyers in the street sport bike category – one for the naked bike and the other for a fairing-equipped bike which looks sportier. It was then that we decided that there should be two variants – the Gixxer SF is an extension of that research. This bike gives a little more power and a little more speed but the difference between the the Gixxer and the Gixxer SF as regards a customer’s profile is not much. Our attention will be on 150cc and above in the niche segment. So as we consolidate our base on the Gixxer series for the next 12 months, we will only focus on this particular series,” he had said then.

The Gixxer bikes are squarely pitched against Bajaj Auto’s 150cc Pulsars, Yamaha’s FZ series and Honda’s CB Unicorn models. The competition for the Suzuki Gixxer also includes Hero’s 150cc Hunk, Achiever and Xtreme models and TVS’ Apache 160.

Take a look at the table below. It is interesting to note that Hero MotoCorp becomes the number four player in the motorcycle segment with engine displacement of more than 125cc and less than equal to 150cc. Bajaj Auto is the leader with India Yamaha Motor as the number two player for FY2014-15.

Honda, which has been weak in the 150cc segment so far, ranked number three for the last fiscal. However, the company is now gradually catching up with its Japanese counterpart, and this is evident in the year-on-year April sales.

Hero MotoCorp witnessed a sharp fall in the sales of its 150cc bike portfolio during April 2015. The company sold only 6,904 units last month as compared to the sales of 17,313 units during April 2014.

At the premium-end of the commuter motorcycle segment (engine displacement of more than 150cc and less than equal to 200cc), the SIAM data highlights that, TVS Motor Company is the most formidable player, thanks to its Apache 160 and 180 models. Bajaj Auto being the number two player in this category is gradually boosting its sales. With new models such as AS200 and RS200, the company will see improvement in its sales in the coming months.

Positioned as the premium commuter, Suzuki’s Gixxer continues to consolidate its presence in this category. The Gixxer SF is expected to help Suzuki boost its sales in the coming months. Hero MotoCorp and Yamaha remain absent in this category.