Two-wheeler sales report: November 2017

Some major manufacturers in the business record double-digit growth figures in November 2017 – a considerable growth over demonetisation affected month last year

Despite the festive season, the month of October had been difficult for some manufacturers as far as sales is concerned. Things, however, seem to have improved in November with most of the major two-wheeler manufacturers recording double-digit growth figures. We bring you the sales performance of some of the leading bike makers in the business.

Honda:

In the month of October, Honda saw a drop in its sales figures vis-à-vis the same month last year. The company sold 4,37,531 units in India in October 2017 in comparison to 4,70,358 units in the same month last year. November, however, brought the steady growth of 44 percent for the brand with overall sales of 4,60,017 units. Of these, 4,32,350 units were sold in the domestic market in comparison to 2,99,414 units in November 2017. Of course, these numbers are not really indicative keeping in mind the limited sales due to demonetisation in November 2016. But if you look at the domestic sales of the brand for the past two months, it has dropped from 4,37,531 units in October 2017 to 4,32,350 units in November 2017. Exports for Honda has been on the rise for both the months. Through these ups and down, Honda managed to find a reason to celebrate in October as they recorded sales of over 8.5 lakh units of the Activa.

Suzuki

Suzuki too is experiencing a similar trend. In the month of November 2017, the company has registered sales of 42,722 units in comparison to 30,830 units in the corresponding month last year. Exports have been on the rise too, with 6,813 units as against 5,268 units in November 2016. This has resulted in a month-on-month growth of 37 percent. But just like Honda, the numbers for Suzuki too were higher in the festive months of September and October recording sales of 50,785 units and 46,020 units respectively. For Suzuki too, 2017 has been quite a fruitful year so far. The company has already clocked 3,80,950 units from April-November 2017, which is more than what they could manage in the entire 2016-17 fiscal.

TVS

Meanwhile, TVS too has recorded a reasonable growth in November 2017 with sales of 2,43,323 units sold as opposed to 2,19,088 units in the same month last year. Of these, domestic sales stood at 2,03,138 units for November 2017 with a growth of 6.1 percent. While scooter sales saw a minor 7.2 percent jump from 73,135 units in November 2016 to 78,397 units last month. Motorcycle sales have seen a considerable growth up from 67,896 units to 93,202 units in November 2017. TVS is all set to launch the TVS Apache RR 310 on December 6 – a motorcycle a lot of enthusiasts have been looking forward to.

Bajaj Auto

Unlike some of the other two-wheeler manufacturer, Bajaj’s case is somewhat different. Bajaj Auto’s growth in the domestic market hasn’t been all that impressive with just 1,41,948 units sold instead of 1,39,765 units in November 2016. The Chakan-based car maker’s strength is in the export market, and they seem to have excelled in that once again. Bajaj shipped out 1,22,022 units last month in comparison to 97,992 units in the same month last year.

Royal Enfield

Growth is upwards for Royal Enfield too as they record sales of 70,126 units last month in comparison to 57,313 units in the same month in 2016. Domestic sales for the company stood at 55,843 units – a growth of 21 percent. The company managed to export 2,350 units in November this year, sending out 880 units more than the same month last year. Starting April 201, the Chennai-based company has recorded sales of over half a million units reflecting a growth of 22 percent in the April-November period.

Hero

It seems Hero has made it a habit to top the same rankings. The leading two-wheeler manufacturer of India once again sold more than 6 lakh units. The Manesar based company crossed the 6-lakh mark for the seventh consecutive month.  In November 2016, Hero sold 4,79,856 units but this year they managed to better the number of 6,05,270 units.

The last few years have been quite a roller coaster ride for the Indian two-wheeler market. Starting with demonetisation and then ban of BSIII vehicles following it with the new taxation structure. All of this has been somewhat tough on manufacturers, but now it seems like the market is gradually recovering from the turmoil that was.