NEW DELHI: Increasing motorcycle sales and a revival of the scooter market drove two-wheeler sales up by 9.66% during the first eleven months this fiscal. A total of 48.8 lakh units were sold during April-February 2003-04 over 44.57 lakh units during the same period last year, data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) showed.
Sales of motorcycles in the country, the second-biggest two-wheeler market of the world after China, jumped 13% to 38 lakh units. Scooter sales, which have been witnessing a steady growth since the last couple of months, grew by 3.70% to 8.05 lakh units, while moped sales skidded by 10.3% to 2.81 lakh units.
After blockbuster sales during the most part of 2001-02, the two-wheeler market decelerated since the fourth quarter of last fiscal, mainly because of low demand from rural areas after last year's drought and the imbroglio over the implementation of the value-added tax (VAT) regime.
But demand has started picking up from the second quarter of this fiscal due to bountiful rains which raised prospects of good harvest and improved sentiments. In the motorcycle and step-through category, market leader Hero Honda posted a 22% rise to 18.4 lakh units while its nearest rival Bajaj Auto registered a 10.2% rise to 8.84 lakh units.Sales of Chennai-based TVS Motor, which has been witnessing slow sales owing to decreasing demand for its two-stroke ‘Max’ range of motorcycles, posted a 10.7% dip to 6.23 lakh units.
The Indian arm of Japan’s Yamaha Motor registered a rise of 13.7% to 2.12 lakh units while the Kanpur-based LML, which aims to make a turnaround this fiscal, posted an impressive 52% growth to 1.54 lakh units. Sales of Kinetic Engineering declined marginally by 1.72% to 47,932 units while that of high powered motorcycle maker Royal Enfield went up by 3.33% to 24,662 units. Majestic auto sales surged by 113% to 8,074 units.
In the scooter and scooterette segments, Bajaj Auto posted a 32.5% decline to 2.05 lakh units, while sales of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) soared 98.1% to 2.76 units. TVS Motor and Kinetic Engineering registered 22.5% and 11.8% rise to 1.72 lakh and 34,959 units respectively. |
