125-150cc segment vrooms ahead of others in bike market

The overall motorcycle market has grown about 6% so far during FY17 to 8.5 million units

Like the sports utility vehicles in passenger vehicles, the mid-segment (125-150cc) motorcycle market is growing at a thundering speed, much ahead of others and the overall market. This market has grown 54 per cent during the first three quarters   of the financial year and clocked sales of a million units, making it worth a little over Rs 7,000 crore. Launches have helped expand the market, like in the case of SUVs. In the domestic passenger vehicle (cars, vans and utility vehicles) market, every fourth vehicle now being sold is a SUV, compared to the one-fifth share a year ago.  

Growth in the 125-150cc segment is even higher than the 35 per cent expansion seen in the 250-350cc motorcycle segment, where Royal Enfield is a dominant player. The overall motorcycle market has grown about six per cent so far during FY17 to 8.5 million units. The entry level (75-110cc) segment, more than half the domestic market, has declined 1.6 per cent to 4.98 million units, according to data with the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.  

“The mid-segment is showing good growth while the premium end of 100cc bike market is sluggish. People are trading up to 125-150cc range as they see better value. Our new launches like Avenger and V15 (in the 125-150cc space) have done well for us. These have brought growth momentum in domestic volumes,” said Sumeet Narang, vice-president (marketing) for motorcycles at Bajaj Auto.

V15 was launched by Bajaj Auto in March 2016 and the Pune-headquartered company sold about 180,500 units during April-December period. The company also rolled out the Avenger (in October 2015) with a 150cc engine for this segment and it has sold about 109,400 units during April-December 2016. Pulsar, another motorcycle from the company, is the largest selling motorcycle in this segment with 30 per cent share.  

“We have plans of refreshing the Pulsar with new colour and specifications,” said Narang. 

After a sluggish November and December, following demonetisation, Bajaj was seeing better demand for motorcycles in January, he added. With three key products in the 125-150cc space, Bajaj is the leader here with a 60 per cent share.

Japanese two-wheeler maker Yamaha is another leading player in this segment with about a one-fifth of the market. All the three products (FZ, R15 and SZ) from the company in this segment are showing growth. These three products have grown 13 per cent, to 211,000 units. 

Roy Kurian, vice-president (sales & marketing) at Yamaha, said this segment had picked up five years ago but could not sustain the momentum and all growth went to the 100-110cc segment. “This time it looks like a natural growth. Customers are now willing to spend little more, especially in the urban markets. 

I expect this segment to double in three years.” 

With its two products (CB Unicorn and CBR 150R), Honda Motorcycle and Scooter has about 11 per cent share in this segment.