Two-Wheeler Sales Report: March And Financial Year 2017

The financial year 2017 will definitely go down in the history of the Indian two-wheeler market as an eventful one and there are two reasons for that. The first one was demonetisation which was announced in November last year and the second one was the ban on the sales of BS-III two-wheeler from April 1, 2017. While demonetisation will be remembered for slowing down the pace of the industry, the BS-III ban will be listed for the record sales of two-wheelers in last two days of the fiscal. 

As the Supreme Court announced a ban on selling BS-III models from April 1, most of the manufacturers declared one of the biggest stock clearance sales in the history of the Indian automotive industry. It helped dealerships witness a record footfall while the stock sold during this time period was already counted in the dispatched figure from the manufacturing plants. However, a few reports claimed that around six lakh two-wheelers were sold in just two days because of the heavy discounts on BS-III models from various manufacturers in the country. Now, let's have a look at the performance of various manufacturers during FY'17.

Hero MotoCorp:

The world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp, closed FY'17 with its highest-ever sales at 66,63,903 units. The company recorded a growth of 0.5 per cent compared to 66,32,322 units it had sold in the previous fiscal. Though its Splendor fell from the first to the second position among the best selling two-wheelers in the country, HMCL continues as a dominant market leader with the overall sales. Another benchmark HMCL achieved during the fiscal is surpassing the six lakh plus monthly sales on five occasions in a single year – March 2017 (6,09,951), October 2016 (6,63,153), September 2016 (6,74,961), August 2016 (6,16,424) and April 2016 (6,12,739).

Talking about the last month's performance, Hero MotoCorp sold 6,09,951 units in March 2017, registering a marginal hike of 0.56 percent against the 6,06,542 units sold in March 2016.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India:

Honda also recorded its all-time high total sales, crossing 5 million units. The company sold 50,08,103 units in FY'17 with total sales growing by 12 per cent over the 44,83,462 units sold in FY'16. Also, the company's most popular model, the Activa, became the best-selling two-wheeler of the country, defeating the Hero Splendor. And the total automatic scooter sales crossed the three million mark for the first time ever to reach 33,51,604 units with 16 per cent growth compared to 28,92,480 units in FY'16.

Bajaj Auto:

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Despite doing tremendous business during FY'17, Bajaj recorded a fall of 4 percent in the overall motorcycle sales figures. The company sold 32,19,932 motorcycles this fiscal against 33,58,252 units sold in FY'16. While it registered a hike of 5 per cent in the domestic market, its export figures fell by 16 per cent. The company maintained its leading position in the sportsbike segment in the country with its Pulsar range of motorcycles and the new Avenger range along with the newly launched Dominar 400 that also made it the best-selling premium motorcycle brand in India.

In the month of March 2017, Bajaj reported a decline of 8 per cent in sales, selling 2,44,235 motorcycle against 2,64,249 units in the corresponding month last year.

TVS Motor Company:

Overall two-wheeler sales of TVS stood at 28.57 lakh units in FY'17, growing by 11.2 per cent over the 25.69 lakh units sold in FY'16. The first half of the fiscal showed a record hike of 19.3 percent while the growth stood at just 3.6 per cent in the second half. 

TVS' two-wheeler sales increased by 10.7 per cent from 2,26,643 units recorded in March 2016 to 2,50,979 units in March 2017.

India Yamaha Motor:

Yamaha registered a growth of 27 per cent in sales during March 2017 as compared to the corresponding period last year. The company clocked domestic sales of 76,144 units (including Nepal) in March this year against 60,032 units in the corresponding month last year.

Royal Enfield:

Despite being premium-only motorcycle manufacturer, Royal Enfield registered phenomenal sales of 6,66,490 units in FY'17. The company recorded an overall sales growth of 31 per cent against 5,08,154 units sold in FY'16. Along with ever-popular models like the Classic 350 and the Bullet 350, the newly-launched Himalayan also contributed a significant share towards its sales for this fiscal. 

Sales of March 2017 stood at 60,113 units, showing a hike of 17 percent as compared to the 51,320 units of the same month last year.

Suzuki Motorcycles:

A comprehensive product portfolio and consistent growth in sales have enabled Suzuki to cross the annual sale mark of 350,000 units in FY'17, indicating a growth of 12 per cent over last year. The company registered a whopping 74 per cent increase in their March 2017 sales figure at 36,029 units as opposed to 20,673 units in March 2016.

Overall, the Indian two-wheeler industry registered a sales growth of around 5 per cent in FY'17 and ended with the ban on BS-III vehicles. So, the new fiscal started with an eco-friendly step as the government implemented stringent BS-IV emission standards on all vehicles which has also resulted in a slight increment in the prices of the vehicles. However, the extra price that you have to pay is not much for a greener environment.