The Annual Sales Report of Two-Wheelers in the financial year 2020?

• History of the Two-Wheeler Industry in India?

The 2-wheeler Industry in India entered the manufacturing course in the early 1950s when Automobile Products of India (API) started manufacturing scooters in India. In 1948, Bajaj Auto began importing Vespa scooters in India. In 1960, Bajaj started a shop to manufacture scooters in India in collaboration with Piaggio of Italy. The collaboration ended in 1971.

Even the motorcycle segment also started with three manufacturers viz Enfield, Ideal Jawa, and Escorts. In the ’80s the market for two-wheeler motorbikes opened up and it buzzed the market by storm. It resulted in the expansion in the market where TVS Suzuki and Hero Honda occupied the top two spots in the Indian motorcycle segment. Since then throughout the last four decades, we have seen splendid growth in the Indian two-wheeler segment year on year basis. Moving forward from starting in the 1950s to the current time, India is the largest market for the two-wheeler segment right now.

 

Hero MotoCorp topped the retail sales charts with 3,96,278 units sold last month and commanding a market share of 34.50 per cent. This was significantly lower as compared to 5,61,873 units sold in December 2020 when market share was at 30.20%. Considering the high demand for electric two-wheelers, Hero MotoCorp is gearing up to unveil its first electric vehicle (EV) in March this year. It will be produced at the company’s production facility at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. Honda two-wheeler retails also dipped significantly on a YoY basis to 2,84,837 units over 3,52,394 units sold in December 2020. Market share, however, increased from 24.59% held in Dec 2020 to 24.80% in the past month. The new Honda CB300R is poised for launch. It was showcased at the India Bike Week 2021 festival and is slated to go on sale in India later this month. 

Bajaj Auto retails dipped to 1,43,538 units, down from 1,61,713 units sold in December 2020. However, market share increased from 11.28% to 12.50% year on year. Suzuki retails on the other hand saw a marginal decrease to 42,609 units from 45,332 units sold in December 2020. Royal Enfield retails dipped to 40,102 units in December 2021 from 51,489 units retailed in December 2020. Royal Enfield is expected to launch a slew of new motorcycles this year. It is expected to start off with the Scram 411 in February 2022. Others planned for launch are Hunter 350, Cruiser 650 and Shotgun 650. Yamaha Motors also posted a year-on-year growth in retail down to 37,621 units from 43,080 units sold in December 2020.

• Sales Report of 2020 :

In India, the two-wheeler industry is one of the largest revenue collectors in the country. It is mainly ruled by branded companies like Hero Motocorp, Bajaj, Honda, Suzuki, etc. Hero Motocorp is the leading two-wheeler manufacturing company in India with over 75 million sold to date. Bajaj is known for its powerful engines with suitable mileage for Indian roads. The two-wheeler industry in India has the highest two-wheeler sales in the world and the most interesting fact is that China comes second on the list. 

Have a look at this chart below to clearly understand the facts :

As you can see, in the financial year 2018-19 the sales of two-wheelers have increased and it was the highest bike-selling year in the history of the bike industry. But in 2019-20, the sales have gradually decreased because of Covid-19. Not only COVID-19 but the BS-VI norms also made an increase in the price of bikes. This made the overall production of two-wheelers in the country drop to half. The overall bike industry declined by -18% in 2020. Electric Two-Wheeler Makers, Okinawa, Hero Electric, Ampere, Ather and PUR Electric have all seen a steep rise in retail sales. Okinawa in particular, posted retails at 6,098 units, up from 613 units sold in December 2020. Okinawa offers high-speed (Ridge+, Praise Pro and iPraise+) and low-speed electric scooters (Okinawa R30, Lite and Dual) and now plans added investment to the tune of Rs 200-250 crores in a new plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan with a target of 100% localization by the end of this financial year. Hero Electric also saw sales past the 6,000 unit mark at 6,058 units, an increase over 1,545 units sold in December 2020 while Ampere retails stood at 3,343 units up from 872 units retailed in December 2020. Hero AE-47 electric motorcycle may launch sometime later this year and is expected to be priced between Rs 1.3-1.5 lakh. Ather Energy is another highly successful electric two-wheeler maker even though it sells only two models on offer in India – Ather 450X and 450 Plus. There were other electric vehicle makers in this segment that saw retail at 5,004 units in December 2021, up from 1,534 units sold in December 2020 with market share increasing from 0.11% to 0.44% respectively.

• Rise and Fall of Two-Wheeler Sales in India :

The rise of the two-wheeler segment in India has been a growth story in itself. The increase in the purchasing power of both the urban and semi-urban markets and to add to that, the low cost of ownership of two-wheelers have been the major growth drivers for this segment.

The sales of the Indian two-wheeler industry experienced a decline of 18% over the previous year in FY 2020. The overall sales volume was 17.5 million units. However, with the easing in the wrath of the Pandemic (COVID-19) and also with an increase in the manufacturing PMI, to an all-time high level in the past decade, the worst seems to be behind us. This can also be judged from the fact that the overall increase in the volume of sales of two and three-wheeler vehicles has been on the rise. Here are a few other facts:

1. The top Motorcycle sellers for the year so far have been Hero MotoCorp (sold 4.4 million units), Honda (2.79 million units), TVS (1.63 million units), and Bajaj (1.47 million units).
2. The first two quarters of this year saw a massive contraction in overall sales.Q1 reported a decrease in sales by over 24% and Q2 reported a decline in sales by more than 72%.

• Conclusion :

Before ending this article I need to tell you that the increase or decline in the sales of the two-wheeler segment gives us an impression of the overall health of the economy. The Indian two-wheeler segment has been on a decline over the last couple of years. Anyways, with the current pandemic situation coming under control and various initiatives introduced by the government, there is only one way up for this industry. With India getting back on its feet and with an increase in the population of millennials, this industry has more reasons to go up.

That's all for Biker's Vault today, till then take care !!