Bicycle manufacturer Hero Cycles sold over six lakh units last month, an increase of 20 per cent as compared to December 2014.
The sales registered in December 2015 is the highest one-month sale in the history of the bicycle industry by any cycle company in India, Hero Cycles said in a statement.
"We have not only strengthened our dominance in the Indian cycle market but have also become the first ever company to achieve a sale of over 6 lakh units in a month in the history of India's cycle industry,” Hero Cycles Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj Munjal said.
Munjal added that the company hopes to achieve much better targets in 2016.
Hero Cycles had posted a turnover of around Rs 3,000 crore during the 2014-15 fiscal with a production of around 55 lakh cycles. The company has recently announced its entry in the European market and acquisition of Firefox in India and Avocet Sports in UK. Hero Cycles aims to grow by Rs 8,000 crore by 2018.
“In recent times, we have witnessed a greater social focus on fitness and environment friendly modes of transport. This trend has given a new vigour to the bicycle industry and our wide variety of products, including the premium sports brands have touched a chord with marquee customers,” said Raman Awasthi, National Sales Head of Hero Cycles.
The company has also benefited from the several initiatives in urban cities which seeks to promote the use of cycling to control pollution and traffic as its premium brand has started contributing in sales.
“While mainstream cycle brands like Jet continue to attract significant sales, premium cycle brands such as Sprint have started contributing considerable share of sales,” added Awasthi.
The overall bicycle market in India is estimated to be Rs 4,670 crore and of this, the premium bicycle market is estimated to be nearly Rs 100 crore.
BW Reporters
The author is Senior Correspondent with BW Businessworld
