Two-wheelers vroom into rural India to end June on a high

Growth in spending in rural areas on the back of a promising monsoon season has resulted in double-digit increase in sales of Hero Honda, TVS, Honda Motorcycles, Yamaha and Mahindra 2 Wheelers for the month of June.

India’s largest two-wheeler maker, Hero Honda Motors, today reported sales of 426,454 units, a 16.6 per cent growth as compared to 365,734 units in the same month a year earlier.

Hero Honda, which makes the Splendour and Passion brands, is followed by Bajaj Auto. About half of Hero’s sales came from rural India. Says Anil Dua, senior vice president (marketing and sales), “The 16 per cent growth in June is very encouraging, coming as it does on the back of the high base of our sales last year.”

Chennai-based TVS Motor Company posted an increase of 33 per cent in domestic sales of its two-wheeler range, while also logging its highest-ever three-wheeler sales in a month.

The company, which also makes the Scooty brand of automatic scooters, sold 139,905 units of two-wheelers during the month as compared to 105,361 units sold in the same month a year earlier, a statement said.

Motorcycle sales recorded growth of 44 per cent during the month, of 66,452 units as against 46,048 units in the month last year. Sales of scooters grew by 42 per cent to 36,742 units, as compared to 25,945 units a year earlier. Three-wheeler sales increased to 3,003 units in the same month, as compared to just 810 units sold in the same month a year ago.

Mahindra 2 Wheelers, the latest company to join the market, posted sales of 10,017 units in June, a growth of 329 per cent as against 2,333 units in the month last year.

The company has three automatic scooters, the Duro, Rodeo and Flyte. It would enter the high-volume motorcycle segment before the end of this year.

India Yamaha Motor, subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Corporation, recorded an 18 per cent rise in domestic sales of its motorcycle range to 21,157 units in June, compared to 17,878 units posted in the same month a year earlier.