Indian motorcycle companies have been doing rather well in the domestic market for 2023 as the sales of small displacement engine bikes continues to be the popular choice, however the April sales figures alone can make the eyes water and make the global brand leaders only wish they could compete.
India is a motorcycling country and is by far the largest market in the world but is dominated by small to medium sized bikes. Some foreign brands perform well also but the most notable are Honda and Suzuki…again with small engine bikes and scooters.
In Europe and other developed markets, the only successful Indian brand import has been Royal Enfield. So we tend to think of them as being the prominent brand in their domestic market, however they are far from such a lofty status.
Hero MotoCorp have the lion’s share with Bajaj and TVS falling in behind but still considerably bigger than Royal Enfield…however each and every one sells more in one month than most brands do it a financial quarter or even in a whole year.
In April alone, Hero MotoCorp sold just over 386,000 bikes! However in March they sold just over 500,000 units. April was seen as a poor month in comparison with a 23% drop, whilst there was a 3% year on year drop too. Even so, the numbers are just astonishing!
TVS saw a 29% year on year increase in April, rising from 180,000 in 2022 to nearly 233,000, however in March they sold over 240,000…so just a 3.25% dip on the month to month comparison.
Bajaj have enjoyed the greatest growth of the lot with a 95% year on year increase from 93,000+ in April 2022 to 181,000+ in April 2023. In March they sold over 152,000…so that’s a 19% increase on the month.
Royal Enfield also performed admirably but really do fall into the shade of the others. In April they sold nearly 69,000 bikes. That’s a 27% increase from the April ’22 figures of nearly 54,000, whilst last month they sold nearly 60,000 so giving a month to month increase of 15%.
Detractors would counter these numbers with snubs of ‘cheap, small and under powered…or even unreliable’ rather than inexpensive, compact and adequate in performance and reliability.
Whatever your thoughts on the validity of the bikes themselves, one thing is for certain. For the Indian market alone , these brands are kings. In terms of global sales numbers…these motorcycle manufacturers are on par with Honda…and that is nothing to be snubbed at.