Two-wheeler sales muted in festive October

Second-largest motorcycle player, HMSI, witnessed a 7% YoY decline in volumes

Two-wheeler sales missed the Diwali bonanza this October. Major players such as Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) and Bajaj Auto have been in the negative territory, dragging the overall two-wheeler sales down by about 2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) during the festive month. 

In contrast, the mid-sized players have done well — Royal Enfield (RE) and Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMI) have posted double-digit growth in October (see chart). Last year, both Diwali and Dussehra were in October, thus pushing the figures for the base month up. 

Festival season this year started in the last week of August with Onam and continued till Diwali in October. Thus, demand for motorcycles was distributed evenly between two months. Analysts pointed out that October wholesale numbers were low as most companies had stocked up in August and September ahead of the festival season. 

Major motorcycle makers such as Hero MotoCorp and HMSI witnessed a decline in their volumes. Hero sold 631,105 units in October this year (this includes export figures) compared to 663,153 units in the same month last year, a decline of 5 per cent.

Second-largest motorcycle player, HMSI, witnessed a 7 per cent YoY decline in volumes. The company sold 437,531 units this Diwali month compared to 470,358 units last year. Moreover, volumes for TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto were flat as well. 

Betting on models such as Himalayan and Classic motorcycles, RE sold 68,014 units in the month. The biggest gainer in terms of volumes, however, is SMI, which recorded a growth of 27 per cent. The company sold 46,048 units this year compared to 36,519 units in the same month last year.

“The sales outlook in coming months looks positive as last year the industry suffered due to demonetisation,” said Sneha Prashant, a researcher at HDFC Securities.