Hero MotoCorp gains market share to expand the gap with Honda
Contrary to popular perception of Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) closing the gap with Hero, the home-grown two-wheeler giant has now increased its lead over its Japanese former partner to more than 2.15 lakh units in the first two months of this fiscal (Apr-May’ 18). This is a significant jump over the same period in the previous fiscal when its lead was only 1.36 lakhs.With the steadily expanding gap, Hero is now regaining the market share, which it had lost to competition over the past few years. At the end of May, Hero MotoCorp’s overall market share in the domestic two-wheeler market stood at 37.4% – a gain of more than 1% over the same period last year, when its market share stood at 36 .2% in May 2017. In the domestic motorcycle market, however, Hero continues to command over 50% market share.
In the month of May, Hero MotoCorp sold 706,365 units of motorcycles and scooters in – a growth of 11% over the corresponding month in the previous fiscal (May 2017) when the Company had sold 6,33,884 units. This was the third month of seven lakh-plus sales by Hero MotoCorp in recent times, with the two previous months being March 2018 (730,473) and September 2017 (720,739).
“With the forecast of a good monsoon this year, there is expectation of an uptick in market demand in the later part of the year, leading to a sustained momentum in the positive turnaround in sentiments across the country. We are well placed to leverage that with the upcoming introduction of its new motorcycles and scooters during the year,” A normal monsoon bodes well for Hero as half of its sales comes from the rural market. Hero has also lined up a slew of new premium motorcycles and scooters for launch in the coming months, as
it goes for market share gain in these fast-growing segments.
Hero will soon mark its entry into the lucrative 200cc premium segment with the introduction of the new Xtreme 200R and XPulse motorcycles in the coming months. The market leader, which has maintained its pole position in the domestic market since separating from its erstwhile partner Honda more than seven years back, will also soon launch the new Duet 125 and Maestro Edge 125
scooters – its first foray into the 125cc scooter segment.
Hero has been on a record-breaking spree in its sales performance since the festive season last year. The Company registered its highest ever-fiscal sales in FY ’18, clocking 7.59 million units,ending the year with a gap of over 1.5 million sales over HMSI.
In the festive period last year, Hero sold over two million units of motorcycles and scooters, including over three lakh vehicles on a single day on Dhanteras. It also became the first company in the world to sell over two million units of two-wheelers in a single quarter, which it achieved in the July to September period.
Hero is also rapidly adding capacities to prepare itself for future demand. The Company commenced construction of its new manufacturing facility in Chitoor in Andhra Pradesh, which will be Hero’s sixth plant in the country. Hero currently has an installed capacity of 9.2 million units per annum and the Chitoor plant – when fully operational – will take its installed capacity to over 11 million units per annum in the next two years’ time.
Hero 2018 2017
April 677,792 585,655
May 692,601 612,979
Total 13,70,393 11,98,634
HMSI 2018 2017
April 635,811 551,884
May 519,072 510,381
Total 11,54,883 10,62,265
Gap 215,510 136,369
