Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), the ICE scooter market leader and the first of the three Japanese two-wheeler OEMs in India to enter the EV segment in early CY2025, has registered its highest retail sales (customer deliveries) in May 2026. As per the Vahan portal, HMSI delivered 520 units of the Activa-e and QC1 last month, which marks a 36% YoY increase (May 2025: 383 units).
This is the first time that the company has retailed over 500 units in a single month, beating the previous best of 461 units in July 2025 (see data table below). In the process, cumulative retail sales of the two Honda e-scooters have surpassed the 5,000-unit mark and stand at 5,439 units at end-May 2026. As per apex industry body SIAM data, total wholesales (factory dispatches) till end-April 2026 are 6,505 units with total production of over 11,000 units.
The 520 units delivered in May 2026 take HMSI’s cumulative retail sales past the 5,000 mark.
HMSI e-2W numbers, when compared to the two other legacy OEMs and e-2W market leaders TVS Motor Co and Bajaj Auto, which are averaging 35,000-40,000 units a month, are minuscule. Honda has recently been joined by Suzuki and Yamaha, the two other Japanese EV makers, in the Indian e-2W market.
While the Honda Activa e, which is equivalent to a 110cc ICE scooter, comes with two Honda Mobile Power Pack swappable batteries as its power source and is meant primarily for personal commuting, the Honda QC1 (equipped with a fixed battery) is targeted at gig-worker operations and is more of an affordable urban runabout.
The Activa e, which looks far more stylish than its hugely popular ICE sibling which is India’s longstanding best-selling scooter, has two variants: standard (Rs 119,912, ex-showroom) and RoadSync Duo (Rs 152,000). It has a 102km claimed IDC range, does the 0-60kph sprint in 7.3 seconds, and reaches a top speed of 80kph. The QC1, Honda’s more budget-friendly EV and essentially an eco-friendly urban runabout, has a claimed top speed of 50kph, does the 0-40kph sprint in 9.7 seconds, and delivers a claimed IDC range of 80km. Priced at Rs 90,487 (ex-showroom), the Honda QC1 is the most affordable Japanese electric scooter in India.
While Honda has retailed 1,574 e-scooters between January and May 2026, Suzuki has delivered 1,515 units of its e-Access in the past five months.
Honda ahead of Suzuki by 59 units after first five months of CY2026
Suzuki Motorcycle India, which entered the electric two-wheeler market with the launch of its e-Access in January 2026, has logged retail sales of 1,515 units till end-May 2026 as per Vahan. HMSI, with 1,574 units in the January-May 2026 period, is ahead of Suzuki by 59 units as a result of the 520 units sold last month. In the first four months of CY2026, Suzuki had outsold Honda but it looks like Honda is fighting back. And India Yamaha Motor, which launched its EC-06 e-scooter in early February, has clocked retail sales of 274 units till end-May 2026.
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