March continued to be dominated by Honda, with Hero, Yamaha and TVS trying to play catch up.
Sales growth in the scooter segment was 53%, while motorcycle growth was 57%. Market share increased to 28% while market share in domestic and exports combined was 26%. It saw the highest monthly and yearly sales in March and this year.
Recording its most successful year in India, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) closed the year by recording its highest ever sales of 37.21 lac units in FY’14 with 55,000 units sold on only 1 day (March 31st) on occasion of Gudi Parhwa and Ugadi in West and South India respectively.
With robust 55% overall growth (YoY), HMSI total sale is 392,148 units in Mar’14.
Interestingly, HMSI added 9.67 lac new units compared to 11.19 lac units added to total Indian 2Wheeler industry in FY’14.
HMSI has strengthened its position as India’s 2nd largest 2Wheeler Company. Honda’s domestic market share has witnessed a significant 6% point jump to 28% in March, 2014.
The year saw the launch of three new models from Honda Motorcycles – CB Trigger, Dream Neo & Activa-I and the showcase of Activa 125.
Honda said it had excellent response to Dream Neo and Dream Yuga, with combined sales crossing 6.3 lac units this year.
“Overall, Honda grew 73% in 100-110cc mass motorcycle segment while this segment grew at a stunted 4%,” it said.
“While 125cc motorcycle segment saw de-growth, CB Shine has created new milestone. India’s Largest Selling 125cc motorcycle recorded Highest Ever Sales of 7.4 lac units in this fiscal with 94,000 units sold in March’14 itself,” it said.
In 150cc motorcycle segment too, HMSI made significant 5% gain in market share.
Honda reinforced its Leadership in automatic scooter market, where it dominates with the Activa. HMSI automatic scooter sales grew at healthy 32% in comparison to 21% growth of domestic automatic scooter industry.
HMSI expanded its network to over 2,800 outlets across India during the year.
Yamaha Motor India
Continuing with its upward sales growth trend, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd. has registered a growth of 29% in domestic sales during March 2014 as compared to the corresponding period last year. The addition of ‘Alpha’ scooter has been instrumental in boosting sales to higher ranks, the company said.
The company sold 46,052 units in March 2014 as against 35,782 units sold in March last year in the domestic market thereby registering a domestic sales growth of 29%. In the Export markets the company sold 15,187 units in March 2014 as compared to 14,691 units sold in the same month last year achieving a growth of 3.4%. The overall sales stood at 61,239 units in March 2014 while 50,473 units were sold in March 2013, thereby registering a 21.3% overall growth.
Elaborating on the results, Mr. Roy Kurian, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd, said, “With the launch of our family scooter-‘Alpha’ in Auto Expo along with Ray and Ray-Z, we were able to maintain consistency in our overall growth and the results projected the same.”
TVS Motor Co
TVS Motor Company recorded a 17% growth during the month, with total sales increasing from 167,583 units recorded in March 2013 to 196,826 units in the month of March 2014.
The company’s total exports grew by 28% with sales increasing from 23,342 units in the month of March 2013 to 29,944 units in March 2014. Two wheeler exports registered a growth of 21% with sales increasing from 19,268 units in March 2013 to 23,340 units in March 2014.
Total two wheeler sales increased by 16% from 162,507 units recorded in March 2013 to 188,822 units in March 2014. Domestic two wheeler sales registered a growth of 16%, increasing from 143,239 units in March 2013 to 165,482 units in March 2014. Scooters sales grew by 63% increasing from 29,261 units in March 2013 to 47,766 units in March 2014. Motorcycles sales grew by 10% increasing from 61,808 units in the month of March 2013 to 68,158 units in March 2014.
Three wheeler sales of the company registered an increase of 58%, growing from 5,076 units in March 2013 to 8,004 units in March 2014.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL), the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, today reported highest-ever despatch sales for any financial year, thereby further strengthening its pole position in the market.
Bucking the sluggish trend in the industry, Hero MotoCorp sold 62,45,895 units of two-wheelers during the financial year (April 1, 2013–March 31, 2014) – a growth of three per cent over the corresponding period when the company had sold 60,75,583 (April 1, 2012 – March 2013).
Hero MotoCorp
Riding on robust market demand for its products, Hero MotoCorp capped off the financial year 2014 with 5,24,028 units in March’14. This is a growth of 11.9% over the corresponding month in 2013 when the company had sold 468,283 units.
Commenting on the sales performance, Mr. Anil Dua, Sr. Vice-President (Marketing & Sales), Hero MotoCorp said, “Our strong sales performance in FY’14 is reflective of our new strategic approach that focuses on bringing revolutionary and game-changing technologies. Our retail growth at seven per cent during FY’14 reiterates the confidence and trust that customers have in our products. This kind of retail growth has significantly given us the necessary momentum for the new financial year.”
“FY’15 will be loaded with a slew of new launches, including many of the new products that we showcased at the recently concluded Auto Expo. These launches will be backed by strong marketing campaigns and continued market expansion. We are gearing up for increased market demand for our products with the commissioning of the Neemrana plant in this financial year.”
In the month of March, Hero MotoCorp rolled out the “Splendor iSmart” with ‘i3S Technology’ (Idle Stop and Start System) in the 100-cc category. i3S is a technology that automatically shuts the engine when idling and turns it on, when needed, with a simple press of the clutch, giving more mileage in congested cities.
The Splendor iSmart is attractively priced at Rs. 47,250/- (ex-showroom Delhi), Rs 49,967/- (ex-showroom Mumbai), Rs 48,192/- (ex-showroom Chennai), Rs 48,549/- (ex-showroom Kolkata) and Rs 48,014/- (ex-showroom Bengaluru).