From accounting for a fifth of all two-wheelers sold in the three months to March 2013, scooters now command a share of one-fourth, driven mainly by the large number of women buyers, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. Manufacturers say a third of buyers are women and whether it is Hero MotoCorp or Honda, women are among their biggest customers. The other reason scooters are selling well is the vastly improved product, driven by state-of-the-art technology. And Honda has scooped up 55% of the scooter market with its trendy models. Between January 2013 and December 2014, scooter sales grew 53% whereas that for motorcycles was 7%. In the quarter ended December 2014, 11,44,591 scooters were sold against 26,41,923 motorcycles. Companies like Bajaj Auto, the maker of the best-selling Chetak that once commanded a waiting period of a year, are not in the scooter segment any more, a factor that analysts believe has resulted in the company losing market share.
