Hero MotoCorp Eyeing a Record Sale in October

The world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp officially claimed to achieve the highest sales record in the festive month of October. The company claimed a 9% gain in the month by selling a record 5.8 lakh units in comparison to 5,29,215 units sold in corresponding month last year. Right now, the company has a highest ever sales record of 5,57,890 units in the month of May 2013. To match up the requirements, Hero has already increased the production capacities at its plants. Hero recently revised the production capacity of its Haridwar plant from 9000 units per day to 10000 units, at Haridwar Hero manufactures Splendor and Passion bikes. The other two plants at Dharuhera and Gurgaon are now rolling out almost 7,000 units per day.

Mr. Anil Dua, senior vice-president, marketing and sales at Hero MotoCorp declared that despite the critical conditions due to the floods in Gujrat and the cyclone is Orissa, the overall domestic sales of the company was beyond the expectations in the Navratra season. He said, “October should be humongous. The best ever month for sales in our history was May 2013 but in October, our target is to exceed that by a good margin. The highest ever retail for the festive season (October and November combined) was 1.1 million units we saw last year. This time we are trying to go far beyond that, I think closer to 1.2 million units. Our factories have been working at full capacity, sometimes beyond that.” “The two-wheeler industry has been growing at 2-3% for the last one and half years, and we have been banking on the festive season. The second quarter (July-September) had been down because of rain and the shradh period. But in the third quarter (October-December) we expected a big impact and are clearly witnessing that,” Mr. Dua added after.

The company has recorded a hike of 16 percent in the September, and showing a consistent YoY sales growth every month, except the 5.95% decreament at 5,02,279 units in the month of June 2013, against the 5,34,091 units of the same month in the previous year. According to an ICRA note, “In September 2013, motorcycles segment volumes expanded in stark contrast to the sluggish growth trends being experienced over the last 18 months. Also, scooter volumes maintained their healthy growth run.” Previous year, most of the sales of the company were from motorcycle segment, because the company has only one scooter Pleasure, which was not doing as well as the other majors in the segment. However, this year, the company is taking a noticeable market share in the scooter segment as its scooter Maestro is doing quite well.

The company is also planning to launch the next gen version of its current line-up soon, which was unveiled recently. The new products will have new and exciting features with advanced futuristic technologies, which will further help the company to maintain its numero uno position in the market. After the good performance Navratra, the company is now expecting even better sales from the coming festive period of the Dhanteras and Diwali.

Source: The Financial Express