While Hero MotoCorp posted 10% growth with dispatches of 2.75 million motorcycles in April-September 2024 and 43% market share, Honda, with 1.29 million bikes and 41% growth, has increased its market share to 20% from 16% a year ago and is the only one among the top seven manufacturers to do so.
15 Oct 2024 | 28304 Views | By Ajit Dalvi
India 2W Inc has entered the second half of FY2025 on a strong note: in the first half, a total of 1,01,64,980 two-wheelers – or a little over a million units – were dispatched to dealers across the country, registering strong 16.31% YoY growth (H1 FY2024: 87,39,406 units). Of this, ...
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India 2W Inc has entered the second half of FY2025 on a strong note: in the first half, a total of 1,01,64,980 two-wheelers – or a little over a million units – were dispatched to dealers across the country, registering strong 16.31% YoY growth (H1 FY2024: 87,39,406 units). Of this, the motorcycle segment accounted for 64,07,887 units (up 13% YoY) and 63% of the total two-wheeler market.
The bulk of the motorcycle demand, as always, was in the volume segment – commuter bikes. In H1 FY2025, a total of 30,06,303 such fuel-sipping motorcycles were sold, up 9% (H1 FY2024: 2.75 million), albeit down on the 12% growth they saw in Q1 FY2025. The second in terms of volume is the 110-125cc executive bike segment with 18,78,073 units, up 20% (H1 FY2024: 15,68,501), followed by the 150-200cc segment with 616,541 units, up 2.36% (H1 FY2024: 602,295). The two other segments which registered six-figures sales are the 125-150cc category – 3,57,991 units, up by a strong 69% (H1 FY2024: 212,198) and the 250-350cc segment. Sales also rose in the 200-250cc segment – at 67,936 units, it saw a YoY increase of 36 percent. Sales in the 250-350cc segment were down 4% YoY to 388,350 units (H1 FY2024: 405,287).
Let’s take a quick look at each of the top six motorcycle manufacturers and their performance in the first-half of FY2025.
Market leader Hero MotoCorp remains the big boss with dispatches of 2.75 million units to register 10% YoY growth. However, in an expanding market amidst stiff competition particularly for executive and midsize motorcycles, Hero MotoCorp’s bike market share has fallen marginally to 43.03% from 44.22% a year ago. The 97.2cc HF Deluxe, Splendor + and Passion Plus account for the bulk of its sales – 23,43,184 units, up 9% and comprising 85% of the company’s total dispatches in H1 FY2025. In the 110-125cc category, the Passion XTEC, Super Splendor and Glamour together clocked 373,596 units, up 18 percent. In the 125-150cc category, the XPulse and Xtreme sold 6,642 units, down 3 percent. The company’s recent entry into the 350-500cc segment with the Harley-Davidson 440 and Mavrick 440 saw it sell 8,876 units.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, which is the OEM to have dispatched the most additional bikes YoY – 375,796 units – clocked strong 41% YoY growth with a total of 1.29 million units. This is amply reflected in HMSI expanding its bike market share sizeably to 20% from 16% a year ago. Honda’s biggest volumes are coming from the Shine – the 831,595 units in H1 FY2025 are up 37% YoY and account for 64% of its bike wholesales. The entry level duo of the Shine 100 and CD110 Dream sold 223,248 units, up 42% (H1 FY2024: 156,762). While the 149cc Unicorn sold 114,295 units, HMSI saw demand fall 31% in the 150-200cc segment – CB 200X, Hornet 2.0, XBlade – with sales of 108,886 units (H1 FY2024: 138,264).
Bajaj Auto, the only other OEM to dispatch over a million bikes in H1 FY2025, clocked 10,91,357 units in H1, an increase of 9% YoY. In the entry-level 100-110cc segment, its sales at 262,930 units were down 6 percent. Demand in the segment above (125cc) was up 10% to 459,940 units and, in the 125-150cc category with 160,040 units, up 41 percent. The 124,253 units sold in the 150-200cc category were down 7 percent. The 200-250cc category saw Bajaj sell 49,485 units, up 23% YoY. In the 350-500cc category – with 34,709 units emanating from the Dominar, Pulsar, Husqvarna, KTM and Triumph brands are a stellar 84% YoY increase (H1 FY2024: 18,776 units) and give it a 52% share of this bike sub-segment. Bajaj Auto’s H1 FY2025 market share at 17.03% is slightly below its 17.74% a year ago. Q2 FY2025 saw the company launch the Bajaj Freedom 125, the world’s first CNG motorcycle and is witnessing growing demand for the bike. The Freedom 125, which is claimed to slash operating costs by up to 50% compared to petrol-engined bikes, has a combined CNG-petrol range of 330km.
Fourth-ranked OEM TVS Motor Co dispatched 627,028 motorcycles in April-September 2024, up 7%. In the entry level segment, the trio of the 100cc Sport and the 110cc Star City Plus and Radeon sold 1,76,941 units, 2.53% up YoY with the additional 4400 units (H1 FY2024: 172,573). The Raider 125, which was TVS’ best-selling motorcycle in FY2024 with 398,354 units, sold 212,941 units, down 7% YoY, and accounted for 34% of TVS’ entire bike sales in Q1 FY2025. The Apache series of bikes in the 150-200cc segment sold 222,947 units, up 26% YoY, and marking a resurgence of demand for the TVS Apache, which is sold across the 160, 165, 180 and 200cc capacity. TVS also sold 12,063 Ronins (up 109% YoY) and 2,136 units of the RR 310, up 14.5 percent.
Midsize motorcycle market leader Royal Enfield sold 410,843 bikes in the first six months of FY2025, down 1% on year-ago dispatches (April-September 2023: 416,887 units). The 500-800cc sub-segment is the only one in which Royal Enfield registered growth. Despite being the market leader (94% share) in the 250-350cc segment with 366,177 units of its 349cc motorcycles, sales in H1 FY2025 were down YoY by 4% (H1 FY2024: 381,293 units). Likewise, in the 350-500cc sub-segment, where it has the Guerilla 450 and the 452cc Himalayan, RE saw its H1 FY2025 sales rise marginally by 1% to 21,306 units from 21,085 units a year ago, and gives it a 32% share of this sub-segment.
The 650cc twins (Continental GT 650 and Interceptor 650) along with the Super Meteor 650 and Shotgun 650, all powered by the same 648cc engine, continue to see strong demand, and helped prevent Royal Enfield from a higher rate of quarterly sales decline in the first quarter of FY2025. The 23,360 units sold are a strong 61% YoY increase (H1 FY2024: 14,509 units) and see RE have an overwhelming 96% share of this sub-segment. Royal Enfield’s H1 performance means that its bike market share has reduced to 9.78% from 10.34 in H1 FY2024.
India Yamaha Motor, the last of the bikemakers with six-figure or more sales, dispatched 207,103 units, which makes for flat sales (H1 FY2024: 206,478 units). The company, which remains absent in the volume 110cc and 125cc segments, sold 77,012 units of the 149cc FZ series bikes, down 22% YoY. There was strong demand though for the 155cc Yamaha MT15 and YZF R15 – the 129,935 units are a 21% increase over year-ago sales of 107,548 units. IYML’s bike share has fallen slightly to 3.23% from 3.65% a year ago.
How will demand shape up for the motorcycle and the overall two-wheeler industry in H2 FY2025? The revival of demand from rural India, which is a big buyer of entry-level, fuel-sipping commuter bikes and also upgrading to 125cc machines, augurs well for the coming months. The 32-day festive season, which began on October 3, is also expected to accelerate sales what with most OEMs offering good deals to buyers.
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