Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. has become the largest volume contributor to the two-wheeler exports industry in the April-June quarter with almost one-third of the total share. Honda also leads domestic sales, contributing 69 per cent of overall sales in Q1 of 2017-18. Honda now leads domestic sales for the second quarter in a row. With a 44 per cent growth in exports, Honda has contributed almost a third, to be precise 29.5 per cent of the incremental export volume in the June quarter, or three-times more than the industry volume.
In terms of exports, the two-wheeler industry shipped a total 6,62,534 units during the April-June period, up 15 per cent over the same period last year, Honda shipped 81,862 units during the period, recording a growth of 44 per cent over year-on-year, according to data published by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Overseas shipments by Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India contributed 29.5 per cent to the total volumes, which is almost similar to what the nearest competitor added in the reporting period.
The Honda Dio contributes 45 per cent of total exports
In the domestic market, Honda contributed 68.8 per cent of the total incremental sales. While the industry clocked 48,96,170 units in Q1, Honda sold 14,78,478 units during the same period. Out of the total addition of 3,53,434 units by the industry, Honda alone sold 2,40,604 units, led by the Honda Activa which contributed close to 65 per cent of this.
Commenting on this achievement, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, said, "On the export front, we have done so well that our market share among the industry went up 2 percentage points to 12 per cent in the June quarter. The unprecedented jump in export was led by the automatic scooter Dio, which contributes 45 per cent of its total shipment followed by the Navi. The Dio continues to be our flagship in overseas markets, chipping in with almost 45 per cent of the volume, followed by the bikes Twister and Hornet. The Navi has also been a great contributor with 4,000 units. Now we are getting huge orders from Latin America too for the Navi."
The volume expansion has also been driven by newer markets and higher orders from Latin America, taking the overall share to 35 per cent now, up from 30 per cent last year. Honda is already exporting CKD and CBU models to Latin American markets like Guatemala, Columbia, El Salvador and Bolivia, and Mexico. This month, Honda has also got orders from Ecuador. The SAARC markets led by Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh still continue to hold 65 per cent of Honda's two-wheeler exports.
