Hero Splendor outperforms Honda Activa for five consecutive months
Two-wheeler sales in January 2019 saw Suzuki Access 125 replace the TVS Jupiter as the second most sold scooter in the country. While no scooter is even a mile close to threatening the Honda Activa’s dominance, the 110cc product has repeatedly locked horns with the Hero Splendor for the title of highest selling two-wheeler in India. January saw the latter take the title for the fifth consecutive month.
Also read: Hero Motocorp adds Integrated Braking System to several models
Hero MotoCorp sold 2,23,909 units of the Splendor in January 2019 while the Honda Activa managed to clock 2,13,302 units. Both products witnessed negative growth in year-on-year sales. Hero Splendor saw a 3 per cent fall as against 2,31,356 units sold in January 2018. The Honda Activa, on the other hand, witnessed a 13 per cent fall compared to January last year. Check out the sales comparison between the Hero Splendor and Honda Activa for last six months in the table below:
| Model | Honda Activa | Hero Splendor |
| January 2019 | 2,13,302 | 2,23,909 |
| December 2018 | 1,74,393 | 1,78,411 |
| November 2018 | 2,18,212 | 2,25,536 |
| October 2018 | 2,62,260 | 2,68,377 |
| September 2018 | 2,84,809 | 2,85,508 |
| August 2018 | 3,10,851 | 2,47,116 |
Overall, Hero MotoCorp reported 582,756 unit sales for the month of January 2019 as against 641,501 units in the corresponding month last year, registering a 9.15 per cent decline. Speaking about the negative sales, the company said in a statement:
The weak market sentiment from the previous quarter spilled over to January and continued to dampen sales. The industry has been witnessing lower retail off-take in the past few months due to multiple factors, like the credit crunch and higher two-wheeler insurance costs.
Hero MotoCorp is hopeful about the sales picking up in the current quarter. The company added in its statement:
The customer sentiment has begun to improve in the past two weeks, and the company expects sales to pick-up in this quarter, which has traditionally been a phase of positive sales.
The company’s first scooter in the 125cc segment, the Destini 125 has already received a positive response from buyers. The Hero Destini clocked an impressive 21,352 unit sales in January 2019 to grab the fifth position in the top 10 selling scooters for the month. The TVS Ntorq sits in the sixth spot while the Honda Grazia 125 misses the top 10 list.
Also read: Hero Destini 125 Road Test Review
Honda, on the other hand, sold 4,22,177 units in January 2019 as against 5,17,732 units in the corresponding month last year.