September 2018 sales: Top 10 motorcycles

The motorcycle market has registered a record YoY growth of more than 13 percent during the H1 FY2018-19 period. Thanks to the surge in demand for 100cc commuter bikes, the growth phenomenon in the two-wheeler category has been reversed, with motorcycles having outperformed scooters.

Hero MotoCorp has had to wrestle Bajaj Auto for the top slots in the coveted list, with Honda, TVS and Royal Enfield being sandwiched.

With a 73 percent share in the upto-110cc category, Hero has its top four brands featuring in the top-10 bestselling motorcycles list for September 2019. Three of these four occupy the top three positions in the list every month, and this has remained unchanged for September as well.

On the other hand, Bajaj has claimed three positions in the list for September, finding its CT 100, Pulsar and Platina in the top ranks. The company's aggressive sales strategy has helped it gain a sizeable market share and in the April to September 2018 period, the company has sold a total of 1,287,133 units. Its market share is, therefore, 17.46 percent, up from 15.52 percent a year ago.

Crucially, this robust performance has helped Bajaj overtake Honda in terms of motorcycle market share. HMSI currently has a 15.11 percent share, down from 16.09 percent in April-September 2017, for its sales of 1,113,801 bikes. Hero MotoCorp, of course, remains the biggest player as always, with a 50.79 percent market share, with sales of 3,744,181 bikes in H1 FY2019.

The Hero Splendor tops the chart with wholesale dispatches of 285,508 units and is followed by its second-best performing series, the HF Deluxe range, which ranked second with despatches of 201,240 units last month. The Passion is third, with 95,057 units dispatched last month.

Bajaj’s most affordable offering, the CT 100 family, is fourth in the Top 10-bestselling motorcycles list. The CT reported dispatches of 89,387 units in September, also thanks to Bajaj flooding the market with discounts along with other offerings such as a free five-year warranty, free five-year insurance and others. Also, the CT 100’s aggressive pricing, which starts from Rs 32,000 for the CT 100 B variant (ex-showroom, Delhi), makes it the most affordable 100cc motorcycle in the domestic market. In contrast, TVS Motor’s XL Super moped comes with a starting price tag of Rs 31,559 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The Pulsar ranks fifth with 89,374 units and in 6^th place is Hero MotoCorp’s 125cc Glamour range, which has reported dispatches of 82,864 units. The Honda CB Shine, with 80,612 units, ranked seventh in the last month’s list.

The Platina, yet another Bajaj Auto commuter motorcycle brand, has registered impressive volumes in September. The company dealers received 67,450 units of its Bajaj Platina last month, which is a substantial YoY growth of 41.37 percent. Ninth and tenth positions are taken up by the TVS Apache brand (55,460 units in September) and Royal Enfield’s bestseller, the Classic 350 of which 44,021 units were dispatched.  The Classic 350’s performance is down by 7.66 percent YoY, although it is still estimated to contribute more than 65 percent of RE’s total sales in India. Nevertheless, the wait is on for the availability of its 650cc motorcycles – the Interceptor 650 and the Continental GT 650 – which should be launched in November 2018.