A slowdown may have gripped them in the domestic market but ?made-in-India? motorbikes are in great demand abroad, with exports in the first five months of the fiscal up a good 35.5%.
Against a 14.3% decline in the domestic market, motorbike exports from India grew to 3,21,321 units in the April-August period this fiscal from 2,37,103 units in the same period last year, led by Bajaj Auto. This is according to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Even in the last fiscal, motorbike sales in the domestic market grew 12.7%, but exports were up a high 41.4% at 5,45,887 units.
High exports are considered relevant in view of a greater thrust companies are giving to their overseas exposure. This is not just to discover new geographies but also to reduce domestic market risks.
Bajaj Auto is clearly the leader as it has contributed as much as 63% to motorbike sales overseas this fiscal. The company, aggressively charting new courses for its motorbikes on foreign land, has exported 2,04,241 units in from April to August at a phenomenal growth of 65%.
The company is a major player in Columbia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Bangladesh and also exports to the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Iran. The company is now eyeing China.
Abdul Majeed, who tracks the automobile sector at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the high quality of Indian products was the main reason for their export successes.
But domestic market leader Hero Honda is not big when it comes to exports. The company sold 35,228 motorbikes in the April-August period, with overseas sales actually going down by 26%.
Among others, TVS was the second-largest motorbike exporter with overseas sales of 39,388 units (35,852) in the first five months of this fiscal. Yamaha India exported 29,763 motorbikes against 27,655 units in the same period last year.