After making a comeback to the Top 10 charts in July after a seven-month hiatus, the TVS Apache has further consolidated its place in the list. It has moved up two places to the eighth place with sales of 35,832 units in August 2016. Interestingly, TVS Motor’s Apache series held the ninth spot in the Top 10 list in August last year.
In January 2016, TVS had launched its most powerful bike the Apache RTR 200 priced at Rs 89,990 (ex-showroom, Delhi). For the first time in the 200cc segment, TVS introduced an oil-cooled combustion chamber with ram air assist, which enables the bike to hit a top speed of 128kph and a 0-60kph time of 3.9 seconds, making it one of the fastest accelerating bikes in its segment.
Meanwhile, the top half of the Top 10 table continues to be dominated by Hero MotoCorp. The Splendor series sold a total of 229,061 units in August 2016, which is 16 percent more than July 2016 and 26 percent more year-on-year (YoY). The strong uptick in Hero’s flagship motorcycle’s sales can be attributed to the recently launched New Splendor iSmart 110, the company’s first in-house developed bike. Meanwhile, the bikemaker is set to launch a facelifted model of the 125cc Super Splendor before the festive season, which may see another surge in the country’s highest-selling motorcycle.
At second place, the Hero HF Deluxe sold 127,752 units, continuing its fine run of selling over 100,000+ units every month in 2016.
Hero Passion retakes third spot from Glamour
The Hero Passion, which was outperformed by the Glamour for two consecutive months, captured back the third spot from its 125cc sibling with sales of 77,581 units in August. The company is further aiming to lift the Passion brand with the launch of the 100cc Passion Pro facelift, which is to be equipped with Hero-patented i3S technology, also offered on two Splendor models – 100cc Splendor iSmart and 110cc Splendor iSmart 110.
The Glamour meanwhile remained the top-selling motorcycle in its segment with sales of 74,693 units, beating Honda’s CB Shine for the seventh month running, despite a slight dip in sales compared to sales in July.
On the other hand, Honda’s 125cc CB Shine sold 63,606 units in August – matching its year-on-year numbers and posting a 12 percent jump over July. On the bright side, the CB Shine SP commuter has crossed the sales milestone of 100,000 units barely nine months since its launch in the domestic market.
Meanwhile, Pune-based Bajaj Auto continued to occupy three slots in the bottom half of the table with its Pulsar series and the Platina and CT commuter bikes. The Pulsar series, which sold a total of 48,910 units, was mainly driven by demand for the 135cc and 150cc models – contributing 33,815 units. It remains to be seen how the 150cc segment, usually dominated by Bajaj and Yamaha, will fare after Hero comes up with the Achiever.
Also read: Top 10 Scooters in August 2016
While the Bajaj CT sold 44,599 units in August 2016, a 16 percent YoY jump; the Platina sold 29,163 units, down 13 percent month-on-month.
Royal Enfield, meanwhile, continued to hold on to the ninth position (which it has held for 7 months out of nine) with sales of the Classic 350 amounting to 32,971 units.
A strong rural demand on the back of an ample monsoon season has provided the much-needed fillip to the motorcycle industry and it is likely to soldier on ahead with the same intensity given the start of the festive season, new launches around the corner and the roll-out of the benefits of the Seventh Pay Commission.
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