Bajaj Discover overtakes Hero Splendor as largest selling motorcycle

Bajaj Discover brought to an end the 12-year long reign of rival Hero MotoCorp’s largest selling model Splendor to claim for itself the tag of the largest selling motorcycle brand globally.

According to data shared by Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL), the Discover sold a record 1,22,968 units in September. Hero MotoCorp did not confirm the sales of Splendor during the same period but industry estimates suggest it fell short by around 2,000 units.

An industry executive said on condition of anonymity, “Hero MotoCorp is now facing increasing pressure on sales due to newer models being introduced by Bajaj and HMSI (Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India). The Splendor has been around for over 12 years now and Hero has not had any exciting product launched in the segment recently.”

While Bajaj has already sold 65,000 units of the recently launched Discover ST, HMSI too has been receiving good response to its first serious mass offering ‘Dream Yuga’. The company sold 70,000 units of the motorcycle within three months of launch in May this year.

Sources indicate Hero MotoCorp has been slashing production of the Splendor to prevent inventory build-up over the last few months. Wholesale dispatches of the Splendor had dropped by nearly a third from a monthly average of 220,000-240,000 units to 170,000 units in August this year. Production of model was reduced further to around 120,000 units in September.

Overall, Hero MotoCorp is understood to have had planned production of 448,000 units in September as against an average of 525,000 units n the first five months of the financial year.

Two-wheeler sales in the country have slowed in the current fiscal after growing at 15% last year on back of high petrol prices and interest rates. Pawan Munjal, managing director and chief executive officer, Hero MotoCorp had said last month, “Retail sales have been slow in July and August. I do not expect September to be better. We are correcting production to prevent inventory pile-up. Sales are likely to improve around the festive season.”

In the first five months to August, the two-wheeler market grew 6.8% to 5.71 million units. During this period, Hero MotoCorp sold 2.5 million units, registering a growth of 2.1% over last year.

An email sent to Hero on the issue did not elicit any reply.