A below par demand during the wedding and festive season has led to a 17% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in two-wheeler volumes in April. This is the biggest monthly drop in more than a year despite high discounting schemes run by manufacturers.
India’s top six two-wheeler brands, which are responsible for 95% of the country’s domestic sales, clocked total domestic sales of 1.41 million units during April. Rural pockets may have performed better than the urban centers, according to analyst reports.
“Our interactions with leading channel partners indicate wedding season (central and northern markets) and festive volumes (western states) off-take remain below par so far,” said a report by Yes Securities.
The volume weakness, however, is partially offset by slight volume recovery from UP and Bihar, where volumes were under pressure in the past 2-3 months due to Malamas (inauspicious days) and high base, the report added.
Delhi-based Hero MotoCorp reported a 43% y-o-y drop in wholesale volumes during April to 305,406 units. This is the biggest such monthly drop by the company in recent times.
Hero MotoCorp had temporarily halted production from April 17–19 at its Dharuhera, Gurugram, Haridwar, and Neemrana facilities to facilitate supply chain alignment and conduct scheduled maintenance and infrastructure enhancements. Normalisation of production is anticipated in May 2025.
Honda beat Hero MotoCorp again to become the largest two-wheeler maker in India. The company clocked 422,931 units in dispatches to its dealer partners during April, a fall of 12% y-o-y.
TVS Motor Company, the country’s third biggest two-wheeler maker, clocked a 7% y-o-y increase in dispatch volumes to 323,647 units during the month. Its electric vehicles marked a jump of 59% with sales hitting 27,684 units.
Bajaj Auto, the country’s fourth largest two-wheeler maker, witnessed a 13% decline in domestic April volumes to close 188,615 units.
