Honda rides out noteban, Jan sales up 2%; gains 3% market pie

Defying the post-noteban driven slump in sales in the past two months, the second largest two- wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today said its January sales soared a whopping 79 per cent up from December levels and a marginal 2 per cent over the year-ago period.
This makes HMSI the only two-wheeler player to have reported sales growth in the month, while the industry as a whole declined by 7 per cent in January. In contrast, HMSI sales grew 2 per cent to 3,68,145 units in the reporting month from 3,61,721 units a year-ago.
However, with a 40 per cent spike in exports, its total sales rose 3 per cent to 389,486 units in January compared to 378,689 units in January 2016, compared to an 8 per cent dip in the industry.

It can be noted that HMSI had reported a 23 per cent decline December sales following the noteban.
Commenting on the dramatic recovery, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior vice-president for sales & marketing at HMSI, said, "January saw customer sentiments improving, thanks to the onset of festive and marriage season.
"Growing even when the industry declined, we has entered 2017 with all time high domestic market share of 29.2 per cent. The impact of demonetization was felt maximum on rural segment," he added.

On the Budget, he said the firm thrust on rural and agri economy through farm credit, rural infrastructure, poverty alleviation, road construction and direct taxation benefits, better times are ahead for the industry as almost 50 per cent of two-wheeler demand come from these market segments."

The phenomenal 79 per cent spike in domestic sales has pushed Honda's market share up by 7 percentage points in the month, taking its YTD market share by 3 percentage points to 29.2 per cent, the company said, adding this is the an all- time high market for the company.
With exports continuing the upward climb, Honda's overall domestic and exports market share too scaled an impressive 3 per cent to 27.1 per cent in the month.
On the exports front, HMSI said its shipments soared 40 per cent in the month, taking the cumulative numbers to 2.32 lakh units in January from 1.66 lakh units in April, while the industry as a whole saw a 10 contraction.