As in the four-wheeler market, there is a growing segment of used vehicles in the two-wheeler industry in India as well.

The highly unorganised market is estimated to be around 8 million units a year – half the number of new two-wheelers sold in India. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), which inaugurated its 100th Best Deal outlet in Mumbai today, sees strong potential in this segment as the replacement cycle of two-wheelers, it says, has come down to 3-5 years from 7-8 years within a decade. Best Deal is the brand name for Honda's used two-wheeler business. The latest outlet in Mumbai is owned by an existing dealership, Jhaveri Honda.

The growth in the Best Deal business, which started off five years ago as a pilot project , has been slow so far. But HMSI wants to up the speed now on. The plan is to open the 200th outlet by March 31, 2018.

“One of the biggest barriers we found was the lack of transparency in the system like vehicle history, ownership, maintenance. Selling isn't a problem in the market, but buying is because of the lack of transparency.  Considering these challenges, we worked our own 'to do' list. Very clearly, it has to be organised. To make it organised, we made a separate vertical within the sales and marketing division at Honda. We took support from the aftersales team also so that we can work out the checklist points", says Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president (sales & marketing), HMSI (pictured below).  

Best Deal outlets buy two-wheelers of any make from consumers, but sell only refurbished Honda motorcycles and scooters. To sell used two-wheelers of other brands, Honda has tied up with Shriram Automall and CredR.

From 8-10 used two-wheelers a month during the first year of starting the Best Deal business, Guleria says the current average monthly sales is around 2,500 two-wheelers a month. He also adds that during the April-June quarter of this year, the business saw a 25 percent growth over the same period last year. Best Deal outlets cover 70 cities in 19 states. All outlets are owned by Honda dealers of new two-wheelers. Till date 45,000 two-wheelers have been sold through the Best Deal network.

As for the new two-wheeler business, HMSI is looking to report another 'all time high' in terms of sales during this year. The second production line, recently commissioned in its Gujarat plant, is helping the company reduce the waiting period for the Activa, and thereby reducing the risk of losing customers to other brands. Guleria won't divulge any figures, but he says there's some challenging target for this year's festive season which he is confident of being the best-ever for HMSI.

Recommended reading:

- How a scooter is born at Honda’s Gujarat plant

- HMSI targets 250,000 two-wheeler exports in FY2017