Honda 2W April sales went down by 31 per cent and the market share dropped by 6 per cent as it was the worst hit brand among mainstream manufacturers
April 2019 was not a good month of two-wheeler industry as Year-On-Year growth stood at negative 16.3 per cent. Most of the mainstream manufacturers have registered negative growth and among them, Honda posted the biggest sales drop of 31 per cent while the market share of the Japanese manufacturer dropped by 6 per cent.
Honda sold 4,32,676 units in April 2019 compared to 6,35,827 units, which is massive and one of the reasons for the huge drop is because of the low demand for Activa. Ever since the sales drop of Activa, Honda hasn’t been able to post good numbers as it is the bread and butter model of the company as it makes up around 50 per cent of volume.
The bike division is also not helping too amidst arch-rival Hero continued to post good sales numbers as they registered just a 0.5 per cent drop in market share. While competition from TVS and Bajaj are heating up as they are the only mainstream manufacturers to post positive growth, both of them increased market share last month.
In recent times, most of the customers preferred bikes instead of scooters and this shift in momentum is affecting Honda. In the scooter segment, the volume is coming from 125 cc segment as well as potential buyers prefer powerful scooters with good design, features and technology. The Grazia and Activa 125 are selling really low.
Honda is currently working on an update for the Activa and the new model comes with lots of changes as finally, the company decided to update the suspension system as 6G gets telescopic suspension at the front, which will improve the ride quality and handling. The company will also offer the Activa with disc brake and alloy wheels.
The instrument cluster also comes with some changes as it gets a digital screen, which will give more information for the rider and the new model is likely to come with some connected technology features like the one on Ntorq 125. Apart from this, the company will update the engine to meet the upcoming BSVI norms.