According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, total Indian powered two-wheeler sales fell by 4.5 per cent in June. Motorcycles were down by 9.2 per cent.
SIAM says this is the fifth consecutive month of domestic market decline and the longest losing streak since 2008. It blames high inflation affecting retail bike prices and increasing fuel costs, against a background of India’s recently stumbling economic growth. The top two indigenous producers, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto, have taken the hardest knocks.
Honda’s wholly-owned Indian subsidiary HMSI, now the second-biggest manufacturer in the country, takes a more optimistic view and predicts a return to overall market growth next year. In the mean time, it’s doing very nicely. HMSI claims to be on target to achieve a 40 per cent annual increase in sales to a forecasted 3.93 million units for its current financial year.