HMSI Mar sales up 20.3%; FY18 volume vrooms 22% to over 6.12mn

The second largest two-wheeler maker, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), today reported a 20.3 per cent increase in March sales at 440,499 units, helping it close FY18 with a 22 per cent spike in volumes at 6,123,886 units.

The 22 per cent full-year volume increase is 200 bps more than its initially planned target of selling 6 million units or 20 per cent over FY17. This means that the company has crossed its target by 123,886 units, narrowing its gap with the market leader Hero MotoCorp which sold 7 million units in the year to March 2018.

The company claimed that adding more than a million new customers in a single year is a world record. Last financial year, the company has a little over 5 million units.

Commenting on the FY18 performance, its senior vice- president for sales and marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said FY18 saw Honda becoming the only two-wheeler company in the world to grow at a pace witnessed never before, adding more than a 1 million new customers in a single year.

He attributed the more than expected volume to "strong customer demand," as Honda could surpassed its own target by 123,886 units, which is up 22 per cent.

With four brand new models, new capacity infusion, addition of 500 new network outlets increasing the reach to the hinterland, Honda successfully consolidated leadership further in scooter segment while aggressively gaining new motorcycle customers, he added.

Total sales grew at 22 per cent from 5,008,230 units in FY17 to 6,123,886 units in FY18, driven by higher domestic sales which rose from 4,725,067 units in FY17 to 5,775,243 units in FY18.

Exports crossed the 3 lakh units threshold for the first time on a 23 per cent spike from 283,163 units in FY17 to 348,643 units in FY18, he said.

For the full year, domestic sales touched 5,775,243 units from 4,725,067 units, while exports rose to 348,643 units from 283,163 units, taking the overall numbers to 6,123,886 units.