Honda Activa helps HMSI's scooter sales zoom past 3 million units

HMSI recently started using the second line in their all-scooter plant in Vithalpur, Gujarat.

The story of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt reached new zenith when they became the first 100 percent two-wheeler subsidiary of Honda Japan to cross 5 million sales in a single fiscal year last year. The tally stood at 5,008,230 units according to SIAM data (including exports).

While the two-wheeler market suffered a major slump due to demonetisation, the industry still managed to finish the year with a growth of 6.89 percent. Honda’s growth rate for sales in the domestic market stood at 10 percent. In the financial year 2016-17 the company managed to sell 4,725,067 two-wheelers in India. In comparison, the numbers in the previous fiscal (FY2015-16) stood at 4,283,690.

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HMSI's closest competitor Hero MotoCorp sold 6,663,903 units but registered a growth of less than 1 percent. While Hero’s breadwinner is the entry-level motorcycle Splendor, Honda’s mainstay is the automatic scooter Honda Activa. Scooter sales for HMSI in FY17 crossed the 3 million mark for the first time with final number tallying at 3,351,604 units. This is a growth by 16 percent from 2,892,480 units sold in FY16.

Honda’s entire range of scooters, which include the Honda Activa, Honda Activa 125, Honda Dio and Honda Aviator are now BSIV compliant. Scooter sales jumped by 14.32 percent, higher than the industry which grew by 11.39 percent.

Exports too have been in the green for Honda. While the industry registered a de-growth of 5.78 percent due to fall in demand from the African market, Honda India’s numbers grew by 41.72 percent.