The sales figures for two-wheelers for the April 2018 are already out when it comes to the two biggest two-wheeler manufacturers Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India; things just became a little interesting. How you would ask? It is because HMSI is breathing down the neck of Hero MotoCorp as far the sales volumes are concerned. Hero sold 6, 94,022 units while Honda Two Wheelers sold 6, 81,888 units (domestic sales and exports combined), which is a difference of barely 12,134 units. Hero registered a growth of 16.5 per cent and HMSI registered 18 per cent growth in April 2018 over April 2017.
Also Read: Honda Two-Wheeler's Sales in April 2018 Grow By 15 Per Cent
Hero ended the fiscal year 2018 with total sales of 7.5 million units. In the previous fiscal, Hero sold 6.6 million units. Honda, on the other hand, sold 6.1 million units in FY2018 and in the previous fiscal it sold 5.01 units. So it is clear that Honda is a long way behind in total yearly volumes and still has a lot of catching up to do. In fact, Hero says that it has set itself a target of 10 million units to be sold in FY2020.
To overtake Hero, HMSI will have to increase its production capacity, which is currently at 6.4 million units from its 11 assembly lines. While Hero currently has an installed capacity of 9.2 million and by the end of 2019, Hero's newest Andhra Pradesh plant will start operating at full capacity, with the total going up to 11 million units. Hero's Andhra Pradesh plant has an installed capacity of manufacturing 1.8 million units annually. Therefore, this means that Honda will have to increase its manufacturing capacities first, in order to take the fight to Hero as far as sales volumes are concerned.
