Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMIL) today reported a 13 per cent growth in total sales at 32,117 units for May 2014. The company's total sales stood at 28,455 units in the corresponding month of the previous year.

Commenting on the sales numbers, SMIL Executive Vice President Atul Gupta said the company has received a good response from the market for all its products. "The growing customer satisfaction has led to positive word-of-mouth in the market. Building on the existing goodwill in the market, we expect that the four products launched at the Auto Expo - Gixxer, Let's, V Strom and Inazuma will also show good performance in the upcoming fiscal," he added.




Two-wheeler manufacturer Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) today reported a 55 per cent growth in total sales at 3,55,726 units for May 2014. The company's total sales stood at 2,29,143 units in the corresponding month of the previous year.

Motorcycle sales registered a rise of 76 per cent to 1,60,295 units in May 2014 from 91,280 units in the same month a year ago, HMSI said in a statement. The company also reported during the month an increase of 42 per cent in scooter sales at 1,95,431 units from 1,37,863 units in May 2013, it added.




Yamaha Motor India today reported 40.14 per cent increase in domestic two-wheeler sales at 47,680 units last month. It had sold 34,021 units in May 2013, Yamaha Motor India said in a statement. The company last month exported 19,440 units as compared to 15,356 units sold in May last year, up 26.6 per cent.

Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt Ltd Vice President (Sales & Marketing) Roy Kurian said: "This has been a good month for us as we witnessed brisk growth due to our excellent product line-up and innovative customer-centric activities." He said the new scooter Alpha, launched at the Auto Expo this year, has been a major growth driver.

"We seek to sell 200,000 units of Alpha alone, along with 1,00,000 units of Ray and Ray Z combined, thereby constituting almost 50 per cent of our total sales in 2014," he added. Sounding bullish about better performance going forward, Kurian said: "We expect to witness more rapid double-digit growth in the two-wheeler segment based upon policies of the new government and the improved buying sentiment of customers."




Chennai-based TVS Motor Company reported 27.33 per cent in total sales at 2,10,293 units in May 2014. The company had sold 1,65,151 units in the same month last year, the company said in a statement. Total two-wheeler sales grew by 26 per cent to 2,01,234 units last month as against 1,59,346 units in May last year. Domestic two-wheeler sales stood at 1,74,234 units last month, up 24 per cent, from 1,40,056 units in the year-ago period, it added.
Scooters sales during the month rose by 60 per cent to 53,924 units last month, as against 33,747 units a year ago. Motorcycles sales increased by 28 per cent to 85,475 units in last month as compared to 66,606 units in the corresponding month a year earlier. During the month, sales of three-wheelers increased 56 per cent at 9,059 units, from 5,805 units in May 2013.




Mahindra Two Wheelers today reported a 131 per cent growth in domestic sales at 15,878 units for May. The company had sold 6,858 units in the corresponding month last year, the company said in a release.
Mahindra Two Wheelers, a part of $16.5 billion Mahindra group, exported 946 units during the month. Speaking on the monthly performance, company's Chief of Operations Viren Popli said, "We are happy to maintain the demand momentum of our two-wheeler division during May 2014 with a growth of 131 per cent in the domestic market, which is indicative of the growing acceptance of our product especially our flagship brand, the Centuro."
"With a positive upsurge in the socio-economic sentiments and on the back of improved demand, we hope to remain on the growth trajectory going ahead," he added.




Bajaj Auto has reported 3% increase in motorcycle sales at 3,13,020 units last month. It had sold 304,780 bikes in May last year, Bajaj Auto Ltd said in a press release today. Its overall sales, including commercial vehicles, also rose by 4% to 351,436 units in May 2014 from 339,348 units sold a year ago, the company said.

The commercial vehicle sales, however grew by 11% to 38,416 in the reporting month as against 34,568 in the corresponding month of 2013, Bajaj Auto said. Exports, meanwhile, surged by a whopping 40% to 1,56,179 units as against 1,11,835 vehicles in May 2013, the release said.




The country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp today reported a 8 per cent increase in its total sales at 6,02,481 units in May 2014.
It had sold 5,57,890 units in the same month last year, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement. "The year has started well with record-breaking sales in both April and May. The demand momentum is thanks to theregular summer surge as also to the recent new launches from Hero. We have also undertaken several brand-building initiatives that have helped us achieve these record numbers," Hero MotoCorp Senior Vice President (Marketing and Sales) Anil Dua said.

In May 2014, Hero MotoCorp crossed the landmark six lakh sales figure for the second time, representing second-highest monthly sales ever.


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Summary: As a friend of mine once said while purchasing a mobile phone, "I don't need 100% features. I need 70% features that work reliably well". Seeing the trend in the market, I guess he was right, or atleast he was within the boundaries of the typical Indian mindset.

The overall industry's mood is good. Probably, the economy has recovered from the depression as more and more jobs start coming up and money starts exchanging hands.

Mahindra registered the highest (so far known) growth of 131%. Some serious problem solving has put Mahindra back on the map, but there's a huge amount of work to be done still. Expect Mahindra to post such serious growth figures in the following months too. Mahindra is definitely rhe rising star.
But the real legend of the show this month is Honda, as usual. New products like Activa i, Activa 125, etc. and solving the production quantity issues resulted in the japanese giant rising again.. With this pace they should overtake Hero within approximately 2 years or so. And with further editions of CBR sports/ street bikes, they're looking future-safe even in the segment Bajaj has dominated so far.
Of course, chhota Bheem and other promotional activities will play their role too. Some of them, in the long run.

Talking about Bajaj, theirs was the least growth, but growth by itself is a good news as Bajaj had recently hit a stagnation phase- their growth was going negative in the past few months. Let's hope they recover... Bajaj still sold more motorcycles than Honda, but Honda also sells scooters which also count (a lot, given Activa's reputation). Could a geared 4 stroke scooter become the saving grace of Bajaj? They would gladly disagree, specially after Honda Eterno's discontinuation. And their aim is clear- Numero uno motorrad fabriek. To become the number 1 motorcycle manufacturer. Going by the trends, honestly, it will take a lot of time. They have almost half the sales of Hero Motocorp right now.

TVS shows promising growth rates, not enough to match the biggies right away, but time & tides change stuff, like nothing else can. They desperately need new products and USPs. TVS Jupiter has been well accepted by the customers, for its comfort, features and the engine. TVS however continues to maintain its position in the midrange, however its too early to judge how their partnership with BMW will affect its position.

People's trust on Hero Motocorp has hardly been affected by Honda breakup, despite news, radio jokes, etc. on this topic. Hero successfully maintains its Rank#1 in the Indian two wheeler industry, and that too by a huge margin. Nobody is even remotely close to the 6 million mark.

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Ranks according to Sales:

1. Hero Motocorp,
2. HMSI (Honda)
3. Bajaj Auto,
4. TVS Motors,
5. India Yamaha Motors,
6. Suzuki Motorcycles and Scooters,
7. Mahindra 2 Wheelers,


Sources: Various links from news websites like Economic times, Business Standard, Money Control, etc.