New capacity helps HMSI achieve record sales in festive season

The second largest two-wheeler maker Honda on Wednesday reported a little over five per cent dip in the October sales at 4,66,535 units, but set a new record in festive sales with cumulative sales for the September-October period zipping past 13.5 lakh-mark.

"Increased demand saw our retails cross the 13.50-lakh mark in the two festive months of September and October. With this, we have broken our own 2016 festival retail high by significant 1 lakh units," Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said in a statement.

During the festive season in 2016, the Japanese major had sold 12.5 lakh units, the company said and attributed the better numbers to the increased capacity, which saw its daily capacity by 50,000 units from the third assembly line in Bengaluru.

The company also said Activa, which is the No 1 selling two-wheeler in the country crossed 8.5 lakh units mark during the season, while its flagship bike brand CB Shine, which is the No. 1 executive bike, sales touched 2.4 lakh mark.

Commenting on the festive sales, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president for sales & marketing at HMSI, said, "The increased production capacity of 50,000 units per month ahead of the festival coupled with rapid network expansion, availability of models up to last mile network and a 360-degree marketing push resulted in record festive retail.

"For Honda customers, the festivities will continue into November as the Grazia, our brand new advanced urban scooter, will be launched on November 8," he said.

While its October sales dipped a bit, its exports continued to rise. In the reporting month, shipments touched 29,004 from 21,879 units.

Domestic sales dipped close to seven per cent in the month to 4,37,531 from 4,70,358.

For the April-October period, its total sales jumped from 33,01,932 to 37,95,580, registering a growth of 14.95 per cent.

The company also started bookings for the new Honda CBR650F, which comes with enhanced riding dynamics, aggressive styling and a wilder induction roar. The new sporting bike is priced at Rs 7.30 lakh.