With barely two weeks to go before April draws to a close, it remains to be seen if motorcycle sales will finally begin to register some signs of a turnaround.

Numbers were down for six months in a row last fiscal with March 2015 seeing a fall of 5.22 per cent from 9.06 lakh units to 8.59 lakh units. However, for the entire year, motorcycles barely ended up being in the positive zone at 2.5 per cent with sales totaling 10.74 million units, compared to 10.48 million units in 2013-14.

Rough outlook Not everyone within two-wheeler industry circles is confident of a turnaround happening anytime soon. The rural economy is still a shambles and the recent bout of erratic rains has done little to alleviate the situation. Going forward, the grim prediction of an El Nino spell prevailing for a good part of the year is hardly any source of comfort either.

Scooters, of course, had a good 2014-15 with sales up 25.06 per cent from 3.62 million to 4.5 million units. As a result, they now take up a third of total two-wheeler sales and this component could even increase in the coming years as cities get more crowded and the pressure on public transport increases. With more women professionals entering the market, the gearless scooter becomes the best mode of travel for them.

However, entry-level motorcycles will remain an area of concern even while their premium counterparts (150cc and above) are doing brisk business in urban centres. Sources say the marriage season in rural India has been the silver lining in the cloud lately but it is only a matter of time before the grim reality of low incomes hits buyers. Should this happen, motorcycles are in for a rough time.

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