August Two-Wheeler Sales Report: Industry-wide Showdown Affects Nearly Every Bike Maker

Hero MotoCorp Holds On While Royal Enfield Struggles

The slowdown in the Indian two-wheeler industry has had a drastic effect on manufacturers. Part of the reason behind the current slowdown is due to the uncertainty regarding vehicles that still comply with BS4 emission norms and the government's bold endeavour of banning all petrol-powered two-wheelers below 150cc by 2025. Despite this, a couple of two-wheeler brands have registered positive growth in August 2019. 

Hero MotoCorp:

To begin with, Hero MotoCorp sold 5.43 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters last month compared to 5.35 lakh units sold in July 2019. While the difference isn’t night and day, it still translates to a growth rate of 1.5 per cent. 

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India:

The Japanese manufacturer's India arm closed August 2019 by roping in 4.52 lakh unit sales. This also includes 26,887 units that were exported in the same month. In a turn of events, the Activa overtook India’s highest-selling motorcycle - the Hero Splendor - which also helped the brand’s position in the market.

TVS Motor:

Cementing its position in third place was TVS Motors which sold 2,75,851 units in August 2019 compared to 3,30,076 units sold in the month of August last year. The aforementioned figure also includes exports of 56,323 units.

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. (SMIPL):

Suzuki is one such manufacturer who has been pretty much unaffected by the slowdown in the Indian market. To put things into perspective, the Japanese brand registered monthly sales of 71,631 units for the month of August 2019, which includes exports of 8,879 units. That’s a 2.2 per cent growth rate compared to the corresponding month in 2018. For a broader point of view, if we considered Suzuki’s cumulative sales recorded from April to August 2019 which stood at 3,46,018 units vs 2,98,989 unit sales for the same period last year, the company showcased a growth rate of 15.72 per cent. What may have worked for the brand is its revamped product portfolio which comprises of the new Gixxer range. 

Royal Enfield: 

While Royal Enfield has been largely affected by the deceleration in the Indian market, it’s been selling a fair amount of motorcycles overseas to try and compensate for the negative growth. For instance, the two-wheeler manufacturer sold 48,752 bikes in August 2019 against 68,014 units in the same month last year. However, the company managed to reel in 4,152 unit sales in the international market in contrast to 1,363 units sold in August 2019. 

Royal Enfield’s Y-o-Y growth stood at -28 per cent but its export figures grew by 205 per cent! The manufacturer has been working on its 2020 portfolio with a new Classic 350 and Thunderbird 350 in the pipeline. In fact, even the Continental GT 650 is likely to become more greener with the upcoming update.