Indian two-wheeler industry saw its best-ever October sales in 2024, with both Dussehra and Diwali falling during the month. Understandably so, given that the leading vehicle manufacturers would have ensured that dealers across the country were stocked with bestselling and popular models, even as they pumped up the excitement with handsome discounts.
Last month, two-wheeler manufacturers dispatched 21,64,276 units, a 14 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase (October 2023: 18,95,799 units). The previous peak of 20,53,497 units was attained in October 2018.
While motorcycles remain the largest sub-segment in terms of volume with 1.39 million units, up 11 percent YoY, what stands out is the growing contribution of scooters to the overall two-wheeler pie. At 7,21,200 units dispatched in October, the scooter industry grew 22 percent, at double the pace of motorcycles.
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What’s more, despite scooters’ volumes being nearly half that of motorcycles, the increase in dispatches last month was just 6,463 units less than what was seen in motorcycles (an additional 1,37,861 units).
Besides, scooters were the only category that witnessed an increase in the share of the two-wheeler pie. In October, they comprised 33.32 percent of two-wheeler sales, up from 31.11 percent a year ago. In the same period, the contribution of motorcycles fell to 64.25 percent from 66.08 percent. Mopeds, too, fell to 2.42 percent from 2.80 percent.
Also See: Over one million electric two-wheelers sold in 2024
Honda’s scooter market share at 44 percent
Sustained demand for India’s bestselling scooter, the Activa, meant market leader Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) registered a 19 percent YoY growth in October. With 1.88 million Activas dispatched to its dealers in the first seven months of FY2025, HMSI has clocked a 23 percent YoY growth on a high base. Its market share, as per the sales in these seven months, is at 44.65 percent, up from 44.43 percent a year ago. In FY2024, HMSI had sold 25,30,667 Activas, which means it has attained 61 percent of that in the first seven months of FY2025. Although, FY2024 Activa sales were considerably below the 3.15 million units in FY2018 or 3 million units in FY2019.
TVS Motor Co, the longstanding No. 2 scooter OEM, reported a 22 percent YoY increase in October dispatches to 1,88,354 units, of which 1,59,227 units were the Jupiter and Ntorq scooters and 29,127 were iQube electric scooters. In the April-October period, TVS’ scooter shipments were 1.04 million units, up 21 percent YoY, giving it a 24.70 percent market share.
Suzuki Motorcycle India sold 1,02,484 scooters at the wholesale level in October, up 25 percent YoY. Its April-October sales stood at 6,07,765 units, up 19 percent, giving it a market share of 14.40 percent. The company sells the Access, Avenis and Burgman scooters.
Hero MotoCorp, with 41,801 units, saw a 3 percent YoY decline last month; its April-October tally, at 2,24,556 units, translates into flat sales and a resultant decline in scooter market share to 5.32 percent from 6.51 percent a year ago.
Also See: Royal Enfield records highest ever despatches of 1 lakh units in October
Bajaj Auto, which was ranked seventh a year ago, has moved up one place to sixth. The company, whose sole scooter is the electric Chetak, had a strong October – the 30,644 units are its highest monthly dispatches yet. The April-October total, at 1,58,585 units, is a massive jump over year-ago dispatches of 1,04,066 units. Consequently, its market share doubled to 3.75 percent from 1.57 percent a year ago.
Ather Energy, another fast-growing scooter maker that only makes electric models, dispatched 20,133 units in October, up 91 percent YoY. The 84,851 units in the first seven months of FY2025 give Ather a market share of 2 percent, up from 1.74 percent a year ago.
So, how will demand shape up for scooters and the overall two-wheeler industry in the coming months? It looks like there should be good growth with the revival of demand from rural India, the availability of new models and an uptick in purchases by urban consumers.
Hero has a 44 percent share in bikes
Motorcycle market leader Hero MotoCorp saw dispatches of 614,683 units, registering a 19 percent YoY growth and grabbing a 44 percent pie of India’s bike market. The 97.2cc HF Deluxe, Splendor + and Passion Plus account for the bulk of its sales – 5,12,762 units, up 15 percent and comprising 83 percent of the company’s total dispatches in October. In the 110-125cc category, the Passion XTEC, Super Splendor and Glamour together clocked 95,203 units, up 56 percent. In the 125-150cc category, the XPulse and Xtreme sold 4,290 units, down 39 percent YoY. The company’s recent entry into the 350-500cc segment with the Harley-Davidson 440 and Mavrick 440 saw it sell 2,396 units, down 4 percent. Hero’s sales of 3.37 million units in the first seven months of FY2025 are up 12 percent YoY.
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HMSI, with 2,53,135 units, posted a 20 percent growth. Its bike market share in October stood at 18 percent, down from 26 percent a year ago. The 125cc Shine – the bestselling product in the 125cc commuter class – continues to deliver the highest volumes for HMSI –1,58,471 Shines were dispatched in October, up 20 percent YoY and accounted for 62 percent of the company’s sales. The entry-level duo of the Shine 100 and CD110 Dream sold 50,102 units, up 8 percent. While the Unicorn sold 31,768 units, HMSI saw demand fall 75 percent in the 150-200cc segment – CB 200X, Hornet 2.0, XBlade – with sales of 7,520 units (October 2023: 29,878 units). HMSI’s April-October 2024 bike sales, at 1.55 million units, are up 37 percent.
Bajaj Auto is the sole OEM amongst the six-figure sales achievers to register a YoY decline. The 2,25,265 units of October are down 14 percent YoY. The demand in the entry-level 110-110cc segment fell 16 percent to 70,192 units and 1.77 percent to 98,671 units in the 110-125cc segment. In the 125-150cc category, sales dropped 35 percent to 21,438 units. Similarly, sales in the 150-200cc segment were down 31 percent YoY to 20,287 units. The higher segments, too, were impacted. In the 200-250cc bikes category, sales fell 23 percent to 8,298 units. The only respite was in the 350-500 segment, where the company dispatched 6,379 units, up 12 percent. Nevertheless, in the first seven months of FY2025, Bajaj Auto is in positive territory, with 1.31 million bikes sold, up 4 percent.
TVS Motor Co dispatched 1,49,755 motorcycles in October, up 9 percent YoY. In the entry-level segment, the trio of the Sport, Star City Plus and Radeon sold 43,677 units, down 8 percent. The Raider 125, with 51,153 units, clocked an 8 percent growth. The Raider, which was TVS’ bestselling motorcycle in FY2024 with 3,98,354 units, was beaten by the Apache series of bikes (50,097 units, up 28 percent). TVS also sold 4,163 Ronins (up 59 percent) and 665 units of the RR 310, down 36 percent. For the April-October 2024 period, TVS’ cumulative bike sales at 7,76,783 units are up 7 percent.
Midsize motorcycle market leader Royal Enfield dispatched 1,01,886 bikes last month, up 26 percent from a year ago. The company commands a huge leadership in the 250-350cc segment, which saw total dispatches of 99,138 units. The recently launched Guerilla 450, along with the 452cc Himalayan adventure bike, sold 3,783 units, up 28 percent. The 650cc models continue to see strong demand – the 4,829 units dispatched in October are up 22 percent.
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Total two-wheeler wholesales in the first seven months of FY2025, at 1,23,29,256 units (12.32 million), are up 16 percent YoY. FY2024 had seen total dispatches of 17.97 million units, which means the April-October 2024 total is 69 percent of last fiscal’s motorcycle, scooter and moped dispatches. With five months left to go in FY2025 and given the current double-digit growth momentum, riding past the FY2024 figure should be a cinch.