Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Thursday reported strong growth of 43% on-year in July wholesales amid robust demand in both exports and domestic market. The automaker’s total sales as well as domestic sales outpaced the market leader Hero MotoCorp during the month.
The Indian subsidiary of the Japanese major dispatched a total of 483,100 two-wheelers in July, against 338,310 units in the year-ago period. Honda pushed 4.39 lakh units into the domestic market, up 41% from 3.11 lakh units. Exports soared 60% on year during the month to 43,982 units.
Wholesales in the domestic market are expected to have been boosted by good retail sales in recent months and inventory build-up ahead of the festival season. The demand in the export markets for Indian automakers is also gradually picking up.
Recently, Autocar Professional reported that the automaker added two manufacturing lines at its Gujarat and Karnataka factories to cater to the growing demand. The company is eying a double-digit growth in its volume during the current financial year to over 5.75 million units, close to its previous peak of 5.9 million units in FY19.
“HMSI has achieved the remarkable feat of selling 5 million units in Tamil Nadu, reaffirming its status as the favoured choice for two-wheeler buyers in this South Indian state,” the company noted in a press release.
Meanwhile, Hero MotoCorp’s total wholesales during the month came in at 3.70 lakh units, down from 3.91 lakh units in July 2023. Domestic sales also decline to 3.47 lakh units from 3.71 units.