Two-wheeler firms except Bajaj and Honda post growth in March

Demand was lower during the month except for the rush sales in the last 2 days

Sales of all two-wheeler majors except Bajaj Auto and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) grew in March, the month which ended with discounted sales of Bharat StageIII (BS-III) two-wheelers in the country.

Several two-wheeler manufacturers said they had been ready with BS-IV vehicles in April.

Two-wheeler sales have seen a decline of eight per cent to 244,235 units in March this year compared to 264,249 units in March last year, though exports grew at six per cent.

However, Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motor, Royal Enfield, India Yamaha Motor and Suzuki Motorcycle India registered growth during the month.

All the two-wheeler companies saw growth in 2016-17.

Suzuki saw a growth rate of 74 per cent in sales in March, at 36,029 units, as against 20,673 units during the same month last year. Sales were 350,000 units in the fiscal year with a growth rate of 12 per cent over last year.

The company is targeting sales of 500,000 units in FY18 through dealership expansion and other activities.

Royal Enfield registered a 17 per cent increase — the best ever in March — in sales. It sold 58,549 units as against 50,059 units in the same month last year.

Rudratej Singh, president, Royal Enfield, said “owing to our strong order book, we have cleared the BS-III inventory. Our customers will be receiving BS-IV compliant motorcycles from April 1”. The company has also recorded 31 per cent growth in its year-to-date sales with the highest ever turnover of 666,490 motorcycles in FY17.

However, HMSI’s sales declined by 14.3 per cent during the month to 365,973 units as compared to 381,524 units.

The company has been manufacturing only BS-IV vehicles from the beginning of March. The customer demand was low in the month except the last two days, when orders were plentiful because of the Supreme Court order, said sources.

Its sales in 2016-17 were at an all-time high of 50,08,103 as compared to 44,83,462 units during the previous year, with an increase of 12 per cent.

While the beginning of the year was good, the second half was challenging and the twowheeler industry closed the fiscal year with only 5 per cent growth, said Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president, sales and marketing, HMSI.

Bajaj Auto posted a decline of 14.3 per cent in domestic sales of two-wheelers to 151,449 units in March 2017 as against 176,788 units sold in March last year.

Hero MotoCorp has seen marginal growth in sales in March at 609,951 units as compared to 606,542 units in March 2016.

Its annual sales have touched the highest point of 66,63,903 units in 2016-17, compared to 66,32,322 units in the previous year. It is prepared with sufficient stocks of BS-IV vehicles to meet the market demand in the new fiscal year, it added.

TVS Motor posted growth of 8.4 per cent in domestic sales of two-wheelers. It sold 216,995 units in March this year compared to 200,190 units during the same month last year.

Scooter sales grew by 23.5 per cent to 84,173 units while motorcycles sales by 10.3 per cent to 95,671 units. The company had commenced manufacturing and sale of BS-IV stocks.