The Hindu Business Line : Honda tightens two-wheeler grip in India

Mumbai, Feb. 2 Honda is gradually strengthening its grip in the Indian two-wheeler segment. Its two entities, Hero Honda and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), have accounted for a 73 per cent market share in January domestic sales.

The data, which includes Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company but not others such as Yamaha and Suzuki, shows that the two Honda companies reported combined sales of 4,01,872 bikes and scooters of a total 5,48,267 units.

Hero Honda has long been the market leader and was way ahead of the rest in January with domestic sales of 3,11,030 units, of which bikes accounted for nearly 95 per cent.

HMSI was second with 90,842 units followed by TVS (79,729) and Bajaj (66,666). The Japanese company’s scooters took up a chunk of total sales at 54,121 units with the balance being motorcycles.

In the case of TVS, its mopeds were the biggest sales driver with nearly 32,000 units followed by bikes (at around 30,000) and finally scooters. Bajaj’s sales only comprised motorcycles which it has constantly maintained will be its focus area for reasons of better margins/profitability.

HMSI has, of course, been right on top of the gearless scooter category since it launched the Activa eight years ago followed by the Dio and Aviator.

Its motorcycle sales have also been much better than the previous fiscal’s, and this has largely been due to the recently launched 125cc Stunner.

In the process, this 100 per cent-owned arm of Honda is set to end this fiscal at closer to 1.1 million units and surpass the targeted one million.

By the end of this month, it will also launch two powerful bikes in the 800cc plus category as part of its efforts to promote the Honda brand in India. One is the CBR1000 RR while another “model is under consideration”.

Both bikes will be imported from Japan.

marketing initiatives

HMSI officials told Business Line that some marketing initiatives were underway for these top-end models.

“They will be available in select metros initially and in exclusive service areas. We will also focus a great deal on safety as part of the drive to keep customers constantly updated,” they said.

The company has also worked out an import schedule to ensure that there are no glitches meeting demand schedules from the market.

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