Bajaj Auto motorcycle sales slide by 4pc in fiscal 2014-15

Almost unbelievable, but leading two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto has performed dismally for the financial year ended March 31, 2015 by selling in the domestic market 3,292,084 motorcycles as against 3,422,403 units in April-March 2014, thereby recording a negative growth of 4pc (-). Total exports for the company (motorcycles + commercial vehicles) stood at 1,806,078 units for the fiscal as against 1,583,935 in 2013-14 fiscal, registering a 14pc growth. Commercial vehicles in the domestic market for the current fiscal also grew 16pc to 5,19,117 units (4,47,674 units).

For the month of March 2015, the company degrew by 22pc (-) as it sold only 209937 units as against 270578 motorcycles in March 2014. With regards to sales of commercial vehicles for the month, the company managed to sell 40,667 units in March 2015 (33739 units), registering a 21pc jump in sales.

In contrast, several of Bajaj’s competitors have done well for the year. Hero MotoCorp has sold a record 6,631,826 units of two-wheelers for the financial year ending March 31, 2015, registering a growth of 6.2 pc over the corresponding period last year when the company had sold 6,245,960. For the month of March 2015, the company sold 5,31,750 unit sales, as compared to 5,24,028 units in  March 2014.

Another rival Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is slowly inching towards the market leader Hero MotoCorp and is bridging the gap rather fast by recording two-wheeler sales of 4,452,010 units during fiscal 2014-15 as against 3,721,942 units sold during fiscal 2013-14. The company grew by 20 pc. Of this total sale, the company sold 1,761,511 units of motorcycles (1,655,485 units) during 2014-15 and 2,502,240 units of scooters (1,902,841 units). Total exports accounted for 188,259 units in 2014-15 as against 3,721,942 units in the previous year.

TVS Motor Company posted a sales growth of 7pc during the month of March 2015, with total sales increasing from 196,826 units recorded in the month of March 2014 to 211,122 units in the month of March 2015.