Bike RPM

Hero Honda June two-wheelers sales up 23.7%

Hero Honda Motors Ltd (HHML), the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer for eight consecutive years, keeps setting the benchmark higher with its relentless quest for excellence.

Riding on innovative strategies across functions, the company’s June sales jumped 23.7 per cent to 3,65,734 units thereby registering its sixth consecutive month of over three lakh sales starting January’09. Hero Honda had sold 2,95,675 units of two-wheelers in June 2008.

Hero Honda’s cumulative sales for the Q1 (April-June) of FY’10 rose by 25.1 per cent to 11,18,987 units of two-wheelers, thereby taking its share in the domestic motorcycle market to an all-time high of 59 per cent. The company’s sales in the corresponding period last year was 8,94,244 units.

Mr. Anil Dua, Sr. Vice-President (Marketing & Sales), Hero Honda Motors Ltd said, “Our performance in the month of June, as indeed in the first quarter, is very satisfying, coming as it does on the back of a high base last year. Our strategy has been driven by innovation in every sphere of our activity – building a robust product portfolio across categories, exploring new markets, aggressively expanding the network and continuing to invest in brand building activities. Going forward, we will continue to stay true to our strategy, and carry on setting new benchmarks.”

In an acknowledgement of the trust that customers across the country repose in the company, Hero Honda has recently been adjudged amongst the “Most Trusted Brands” in 2009 by Brand Equity Survey; and “Trusted Brand” (Motorcycles) 2009 by Reader’s Digest magazine. It has also been honored with the Dun & Bradstreet, Rolta Corporate Awards 2008 in two-wheeler category.

[Via: infibeam]

Tags: bikes, by, demand, hero, high, honda, increase, is, june, models, motorbike, motorcycles, sales, two, up, wheelers

Bajaj Auto Q4 net profit down 49.79%

Bajaj Auto has reported a 49.79% decline in its net profit, at Rs 69.14 crore, for the period January-March 2009. The company had earned a net profit of Rs 137.71 crore in the year-ago period.

At 375,439 units, Bajaj’s sales sales were down 22% during Q4 FY 2008-09, as compared to 482,912 units sold in the corresponding period last year. Consolidated total income during the quarter was down 8.61%, at Rs 1,883.27 crore, as compared to Rs 2,060.61 crore in Q4 FY 2007-08.

Bajaj Auto sold a total of 1.91 million two-wheelers during FY 2008-09, as compared to 2.1 million units during the year-ago period, a decline of around 11%. However, Bajaj is working on various things to remedy the situation. The company is working on a brand-new scooter with which it expects to be able to take on the Honda Activa, which is the biggest bestseller in its segment.

Bajaj is also pushing ahead with its made-in-China budget bikes for some of its exports markets. For India, the Pune-based company is all set to launch a new range of bikes, developed in collaboration with KTM, by early 2010.

[Via: indiaautomotive]

Tags: 150, 180, 200, 220, auto, bajaj, bikes, demand, flop, india, less, limited, models, motorbike, motorcycle, pulsar, sales, slow

200 Superbikes Sold In 2008

During the calendar year 2008, nearly 200 superbikes have been sold in India, the first year since the launch of the superbikes by Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha. Of the total units sold, Yamaha accounts for 107 units, while Ducati sold over 50 units. All the bikes were imported as CBU.

Discerning the growing popularity of superbikes in India, numerous multinational two-wheeler companies like Yamaha, Suzuki Motor Corp., Kawasaki and Ducati are upping its ante on this segment by lining up a series of launches this year. Even Honda recently launched its superbikes – the CBR 1000RR and CB1000R. This year 400-450 superbikes are expected to be sold.

Suzuki has sold 26 and 29 units of Hayabusa and Intruder (priced at Rs 12.5 lakh each) since its launch in November last year. Yamaha managed to sell 107 units of R1 and MTO1 (Rs 10.5 lakh each) in 2008 as against the target of 50-60 bikes. The company is expecting 100% growth in sales of R1 and MT 01 in 2009 at 107 units.

According to industry analysts, top-end high performance bikes constitute a super niche segment that is neither dependent too much on finance and nor much impacted by the economic slowdown. Hence, the demand for such bikes is growing in India even when other two-wheeler segments are witnessing a slowdown. In recent years, Pune-based Kinetic Motors which first took the lead with the limited launch of the 250cc, v-twin-powered Hyosung Comet in India back in 2005.

[Via: Motorbeam]

Tags: 200, 2008, 2009, company, fast, honda, last, models, motorbikes, motorcycles, superbikes, suzuki, yamaha, year