The auto industry is reeling under massive slowdown over the past many months and the two wheeler industry is facing its worst crisis in over two decades. Motorcycle and scooter sales are on the ebb, falling over 22 percent in August 2019.
As per data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers – SIAM, in August 2019, total two wheeler sales slid 22.24 percent to domestic sales of 15,14,196 units as compared to 19,47,304 units sold in August 2018.
Taking only motorcycle sales into account, sales dipped 22.33 percent in August 2019 to 9,37,486 units as compared to 12,00,000 units sold in August 2018 while scooter sales dipped 22.19 percent to 5,20,000 units in the past month as compared to 6,69,000 units sold in the same month of the previous year.
Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two wheeler manufacturer registered 20.6 percent decline in August 2019. The company sold 5,43,406 units in the past month as compared to 6,85,047 units in August 2018. In view of these falling sales, the company has introduced new customer service with delivery of motorcycles and scooters to customer’s doorsteps, special benefits to customers in flood affected areas of Kerala, North Karnataka and South Maharashtra. The company will also forego fees for check up or repair of vehicles along with a 30 percent discount on genuine Hero spare parts.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, suffered a decline of 26.26 percent with 4,25,664 units dispatched in the past month. The company has adjusted their production schedules as sales continue on a weak note while they will still go ahead with adding a third assembly line to their Gujarat plant. HMSI also plans to go ahead with the investment of Rs.2,400 crores during FY20 to convert their entire lineup to comply with the stricter Bharat Stage VI emission norms that will come into force from 1 April 2020.
TVS Motors recorded an increase in sales in the past month when compared to sales in July 2019. Sales stood at 290,455 units in August 2019 as against sales of 279,465 in July 2019 but significantly lower as compared to 3,43,217 units sold in the month of August 2018.
Total two wheeler sales of TVS Motors stood at 275,851 units in August 2019 as against 330,076 units sold in August 2018. Taking into account domestic two wheeler sales, 219,528 units were sold in August 2019 as against 275,688 units sold in August 2018. Motorcycles sales in the past month stood at 1,09,393 units as against sales of 1,31,743 units in August 2018 while scooter sales were at 1,09,272 units in August 2019 as against 1,26,676 units sold in August 2018. TVS Motors total exports increased by 6 percent to 69,702 units in the past month as compared to 66,028 units exported in August 2018 while two wheeler exports surged 4 percent to 56,323 units in August 2019 as compared to 54,388 units exported in August 2018.
Bajaj Auto Limited has reported a 19 percent decline in total domestic sales to 2,08,109 units in August 2019. Motorcycle sales dipped 21 percent to 1,73,024 units as against 2,18,437 units sold in August 2018 while exports increased 5 percent to 1,52,276 units in the past month as against 1,44,486 units sold in August 2018. Total motorcycle sales were down 15 percent to 3,25,300 units in August 2019 as against 3,62,923 units sold in August 2018.
Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd. experienced a 2.2 percent increase in sales to 71,631 units in the past month taking into account domestic sales and exports. Domestic sales stood at 62,752 units, up 0.49 percent as compared to 62,446 units sold in August 2018. Cumulative sales from April to August 2019 stood at 346,018 units as compared to the 298,989 units in the same period last year relating to growth of 15.72 percent. It could be seen that it was the Suzuki Access and Burgman that allowed to company to post positive growth in the past month.
Royal Enfield domestic dipped 28 percent to 48,752 units in August 2019 whereas the bikemaker had sold 68,014 units in the same month of the previous year. Global sales however surged 205 percent to 4,152 units in August 2019 as against 1,363 units sold in August 2018. Taking into account combined sales, Royal Enfield experienced de-growth of 24 percent to 52,904 units in August 2019, as compared to total sales of 69,377 units in August 2018. Royal Enfield recently launched the Bullet 350 range in Kick Start and Electric Start in new colour options and priced at Rs.1.12 lakhs and Rs.1.27 lakhs respectively.
