Honda closes gap with Bajaj Auto for number two spot in bike segment

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) is snapping at the heels of Bajaj Auto for the second spot in the domestic motorcycle segment, with the gap between the two companies coming down to a meagre 14,200 units during the ongoing fiscal.

In the April-February period last fiscal, the gap between the two companies stood at 3,98,525 units.

As per the latest data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM), Bajaj Auto has so far sold 18,15,590 units in the April-February period of the current fiscal while HMSI has sold 18,01,390 units in the same period.

Hero MotoCorp with a sale of 58,72,966 units during the period continues to lead the bike segment in the country.

HMSI, which is already a leader in the scooter segment, had sold 14,51,417 units during the same period last fiscal while that of Bajaj Auto stood at 18,49,942 units.

HMSI Senior Vice President - Sales and Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said the current fiscal is shaping up to be a historic year for the company.

"For the first time, Honda created a new record of adding 1 million plus incremental customers and exports too have breached the 300,000 mark in less than one fiscal," he said.

Motorcycle models like CB Shine, CB Unicorn have been driving growth for HMSI during the current fiscal aided by enhanced production capacity, making it possible to cater to the rising demand.

India's overall motorcycle segment has grown 12.66 per cent to 1,14,68,020 units during the April-February period this fiscal as against 1,01,79,288 units in the year-ago period, riding on revival of rural markets.

HMSI has four manufacturing plants -- Manesar (Haryana), Tapukara (Rajasthan), Narsapura (Karnataka) and Vithalapur (Guajarat) -- with total installed capacity of 6,400,000 units.

The company's total production capacity is slated to go up by 1 million units to over 6 million units this fiscal as compared with 5 million units in 2016-17.