In September 2021, four of the five highest-selling 350cc bikes in India were from Royal Enfield’s stable, with Honda grabbing one spot
The Indian automobile market saw a major sales slump last month, mainly due to production constraints. The global semiconductor chip shortage is one of the biggest reasons for that. Sales were particularly slow in the 350cc motorcycle segment, although Royal Enfield managed to continue dominating that market space.
Royal Enfield Classic 350 was the best-selling 350cc motorcycle in September 2021, with a total of 13,751 units sold. However, compared to the same month last year, this is a massive Year-on-Year (YoY) sales drop of 64.58 per cent (38,827 units sold in Sep 2020). It should also be noted that the Classic 350’s sales figure was higher than the combined sales of the other four in the sales chart below.
RE Meteor 350 takes the second spot on the sales chart, with a sales figure of 6,184 units for last month. The third spot is occupied by Honda H’ness CB350, of which 2,995 units were sold in the same duration. There are no YoY figures for comparison, for both the Meteor 350 and H’ness CB350.
Royal Enfield sold a total of 2,107 units of the Standard Bullet 350 in India last month. In September 2020, the brand had sold 8,883 units of the motorcycle, which translates to a huge 76.28 decline in sales on a YoY basis for last month.
At the fifth position, we have Royal Enfield Electra 350, with a sales figure of 672 units in September 2021. This is an enormous YoY sales decrease of 88.28 per cent, with 5,732 units sold during the same month last year. This is the largest percentage drop among the five best-selling 350cc motorcycles of last month.
| Model (YoY sales growth) | September 2021 sales | September 2020 sales |
| 1. Royal Enfield Classic 350 (-64.58%) | 13,751 | 38,827 |
| 2. Royal Enfield Meteor 350 (%) | 6,184 | – |
| 3. Honda H’ness CB350 (%) | 2,995 | – |
| 4. Royal Enfield Bullet 350 (-76.28%) | 2,107 | 8,883 |
| 5. Royal Enfield Electra 350 (-88.28%) | 672 | 5,732 |
One reason for the massive fall in sales figures of the Standard Bullet 350 and Electra 350 is the arrival of the new-gen Classic 350, which features a smoother, more powerful engine and better equipment. As such, a lot of buyers have decided to switch over to the Classic.
It is also interesting to see that Honda’s neo-retro offering has managed to find a space for itself in the segment, fending off tough competition from Royal Enfield. It still has a lot of ground to cover to be a threat to the latter though.