Honda two-wheelers' festive sales crosses 1.25 million mark

The second largest two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) reported on Thursday half-a-million sales in October, up 9% from year-ago period, while its festive season sales scaled new record of crossing 1.25 million-mark.

The company said its October dispatches rose 9% to 4,92,367 units, while the flagship scooter brand Activa vroomed with a sale of above 3 lakh units (3,02,946 units) for the fourth month in a row.

The company said its festive sales set new record of selling 12.5 lakh units for the first time, which was up 25% from the previous year.

"For the first time in our 15-year history we sold more than 1.25 million units this festive season growing by 25%", HMSI president & chief executive Keita Muramatsu said.

Of this as many as over 7 lakh units were the Activas and the rest were motorcycles CB Shine, which alone sold more than 2 lakh units, he added. During the April-October period, its sales grew 21% which is nearly double that of the 12% industry growth, at over 33 lakh units (33,01,297 units), helping its market share jump 2% to 26%.

Scooter sales jumped 26% to cross 2 million mark for first time in just seven months, while total motorcycle sales grew 12% to cross the 1 million mark during this period, said Muramatsu. HMSI added 2.6 lakh customers only on the Dhanteras day, Muramatsu added.

He said scooterization is happening even in the hinterlands as this festive season it sold over 7 lakh Activas a good portion of which came from the rural markets.

Speaking on the record sales, senior vice-president for sales & marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said increasing demand for Honda products saw its automatic scooter sales cross 2 million-mark for the first time selling 21,01,168 units, a growth of 26% growth since the beginning of the fiscal year.

While its scooters sales rose to 3,02,946 units motorcycle sales rose to 1,67,542 units in October. Guleria said exports too continued to peak over 20,000 mark for the fifth month in the current fiscal and stood at 21,879 units, a 29% growth.