Two-wheeler majors, Maruti not bothered by Nano arrival

The encouraging response received for the bookings of the Tata Nano car in Orissa has failed to perturb the leading two-wheeler players and Maruti Suzuki, the domestic passenger car leader in the country.

Both Maruti Suzuki and two-wheeler players like Yamaha and TVS Motors have exuded confidence that they would retain their growth momentum and Nano’s arrival would hardly dent their sales.

Their comments have come amidst market speculation that a sizeable chunk of the two-wheeler buyers would shift to Nano and the Rs one lakh car also threatened to make inroads into the market of Maruti 800.

"The arrival of Nano would not impact our sales as none of Maruti’s models is in that segment. Maruti expects a 30 per cent growth in its sales in the eastern India market in the first quarter (April-June) of 2009-10", said Jatinder S Dhindsa, regional manager (east), Maruti Suzuki India Limited.

Arvind Gupta, area manager (Orissa), TVS Motor Company, said. "We don’t foresee any threat from Nano as far the sales of our bikes are concerned. There is no reason why two-wheeler buyers would make a shift to the Nano as they can get more mileage and better fuel economy with bikes compared to Nano."

"Moreover, Nano is unlikely to provide a smooth ride in the rural areas where bikes can penetrate conveniently. TVS is expecting a 15-20 per cent growth in its sales in the Orissa market in the first quarter of this fiscal", he added.

TVS Motor Company Limited, the country's third largest two wheeler manufacturer, is eyeing sales of about 1,000 units per month of its different Scooty models in the Orissa market in 2009 compared to 650 units per month which the company sells at present.In the overall two-wheeler segment, TVS has a 12 per cent market share in the Orissa market and the company sells nearly 1,800 units per month of all its two wheelers including scooties and bikes.

Ravi Rastogi, regional business head (east), India Yamaha Motor Limited said, the impact of the Nano on the sales of Yamaha bikes would be negligible and most of our bike buyers would not make a shift to Nano.