Hero MotoCorp expects October sales to grow by over 20%

Company which controls 13% of the overall scooter market, hopes that Duet and Maestro Edge will help it strengthen its presence further

The country's largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Motocorp is expecting to register growth in excess of 20% during the month of October, on hand of strong sales during the Navratri and Dusshera festive season.

The company, on Wednesday, said it aims to sell close to 6 lakh units during the month of October, up from 4,91,190 units sold during the same period last year.

"From the first few days of the Navratras down to Dusshera we've sold close to 4 lakh units and we expect when the month closes we'll register sales close to 6 lakh unit," said Ashok Bhasin, Head of Sales, Marketing and Customer Care at Hero Motocorp.

While not revealing estimates for growth during the second half of the year, Bhasin did say that H2 would be better in terms of sales, buoyed by festive season demand. Sales of two wheelers during the first half of the year fell by one percent, while scooter sales growth dropped to 9% from an all time high of 25% in 2014.

Hero, for the first time launched an all-new model in a Southern state, as it looks to capitalise on higher penetration of two-wheelers in the region. "South's contribution to the overall two wheeler market is about 26-27%," said A Srinivasu, National Sales Head at Hero MotoCorp.

The company which launched its Duet automatic scooter in Bangalore on Wednesday, said it was the first of two products there were developed independently of erstwhile partner Honda.

Hero, which controls 13% of the overall scooter market, hopes the Duet and Maestro Edge, which was launched two weeks ago, will help it better take on scooter market leader Honda. The overall scooter market in India was nearly 4.5 lakh units per month during 2014.

Honda, who's automatic scooter Activa overtook Hero's splendor as the highest selling two-wheeler model in the country, sold 264,385 scooters during the month of September. However, the company sold 147,258 motorcycles during the same month, far fewer than what Hero sold.