Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motors extend lead over Bajaj, TVS in two-wheeler market

NEW DELHI: India's two-wheeler market is throwing up some interesting data, with the top two players way ahead of the next two and pushing smaller players to the fringe in a slowing market. The local two-wheeler unit of Japanese Honda Motor is still quite a distance behind No. 1 Hero MotoCorp, but is steadily narrowing the gap. Honda has already become bigger than Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors together, selling more units in the April-May period than the combined sales of the two once mighty rivals.

In the two-wheeler market that has turned sluggish due to erratic rural demand, Honda's ability to remain positive is seen as a great propeller for its ambitious leadership dream. It is steering ahead of the rest by being a mass-market player. Sales at Hero MotoCorp have declined by 5.64% in the past two months. Bajaj too has been in the negative territory. Chennai-based TVS Motors, which emerged as the third-largest player last year, maintained its edge over Bajaj Auto with sales rising 8%. Hero MotoCorp, despite the drop in sales, managed to stay ahead of the combined sales of its partnerturned-competitor Honda and TVS Motors.

Analyst tracking the two-wheeler market said the polarisation trend in the Indian two wheeler market is gaining strength as customers stick to market leader and top brands. "The smaller companies are on constant decline. It could be due to the downturn, where normally consumers prefer to stick to market leaders and impose higher confidence in their products. This could be weaning away customers from other companies like Suzuki Yamaha and to some extend Bajaj Auto," said an analyst at a multinational consultancy firm. The Indian twowheeler market declined 0.73% in the first two months of the current fiscal year, largely due to slowing demand from rural markets, after posting 5% growth in the year ended on March 31.

Bajaj Auto Limited