Hero Splendor Retains Its Crown As Top-selling Two-wheeler For May 2019

While popular opinion suggested the Activa had toppled the Splendor from the top, turns out that isn't the case

• The Hero Splendor managed to register a cumulative sales figure of 2.67 lakh for May 2019.
• Honda sold 2.18 lakh units of the Activa-i, Activa 5G and 125 put together, in the same period. 
• Honda recently updated the Activa 125 to comply with BS6 emissions.
• Hero MotoCorp received its BS6 certification from ICAT for the Splendor iSmart.

The Hero Splendor has always dominated two-wheeler sales in India and the trend continued in the month of May too. The only rival that threatens its reign is the Honda Activa 5G which has been inching closer to the bike with every passing month. 

In May, sales for the Activa stood at 2.18 lakh units, whereas that of the Hero Splendor was 1.99 lakh units. While many felt that Activa had managed to topple the Hero Splendor from the top based on May sales report, that isn’t the case. When we consider the cumulative sales of the Splendor series, like Honda does for the Activa, then the Hero Splendor still maintains its position as the highest-selling two-wheeler in India with 2.67 lakh units sold in May.

Having said that, the standard Splendor has seen a 29 per cent decline in sales compared to the corresponding month of May 2018. On the other hand, considering year-on-year sales, the Activa too slipped in numbers and posted a 20 per cent dip. 

Both the manufacturers have also been working towards BS6-complaint two-wheelers. And while Honda recently unveiled its first BS6-compliant scooter in the form of the new Activa 125, Hero MotoCorp confirmed that it received BS6-compliance certification from ICAT for the Splendor iSmart. 

Speaking of the Honda Activa 125, it receives a couple of design tweaks for 2019 along with some new features like a new semi-digital instrument console, a new grab rail design, an external fuel-filler cap and more storage on the front apron. It also gets a fuel-injected BS6-compliant engine and an integrated start system. It’s basically Honda’s lingo for an idle start-stop system. So, will the Hero Splendor hold on to its crown in the coming months? Only time will tell.