Drop in Honda Motorcycle & Scooter November Sales Surprise Analysts

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has reported a 12 per cent decline in total sales at 3,26,895 units last month. The two-wheeler manufacturer had sold 3,71,764 units in the corresponding month last year.

After its separation from Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycles has created a market base for itself. The Japanese company has become the second largest two-wheeler maker in the country by volumes overtaking home grown rival Bajaj Auto. However, Honda’s November sales figure is contradicting with the company’s performance in the recent years.

Not just its motorcycle reported a dip in sales of 23.61 per cent with 1,04,490 units sold during the month as against 1.36,786 units sold in the same month of the previous year, company’s top performing scooter segment sales also dipped from 216,952 units sold in November 2014 to 2,08,014 units sold in the last month.

The sales report comes a shock for many analysts who predicted Honda to post growth in double digits since the company made a new record for its all-time highest retail count in a single day. Over 2.2 lakh units were sold in a single day on Dhanteras (9 November) this year.

“The festive season was significant for both two-wheelers and cars. We expect sales to be under pressure for motorcycles owing to weak rural demand, says Subrata Ray, an analyst at ICRA Ltd.

Ray expects passenger vehicles sales to increase 5-6 per cent and two-wheeler sales to advance 2-4 per cent in the year to March.

The same dismal picture was seen where exports of the company were concerned. Exports fell 20.16 per cent to 14,391 units as against 18,026 units exported in November 2015.

Two-wheeler industry saw nearly flat sales, barring Eicher Motors which posted a surge of 48 per cent in total sales. Country’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp sold 550,731 units in November compared with 547,413 units in the same month last year.

TVS Motor Company, affected by the Chennai’s incessant rains posted a modest 2.43 per cent increase in total sales. Motorcycle sales of the company declined to 82,163 units as compared with 86,424 units in November 2014.

The industry is now waiting for the successful implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to add the necessary momentum to the sector.