Despite being the most sold two-wheeler in the first half of the current FY, the Honda Activa endured YoY drop of 22 per cent
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Limited has been hit big time by the sales crisis the industry has been experiencing for the last twelve or so months. The Japanese manufacturer has the Activa as its key player in the two-wheeler market and its monthly sales numbers determine where the brand would end up in the sales table.
The struggles of Activa are well documented in the volume tally but still, its popularity meant that the first half of the current financial year saw nearly 14 lakh units were retailed. At 13,93,256 units, the Activa endured a YoY decline of 22 per cent as 17,86,687 units were sold during the corresponding period in the first half of the last financial year.
Despite more than one-fifth sales drop in H1 FY2020 (between April and September 2019), the Honda Activa was the most sold two-wheeler in the market as it beat the mighty Hero Splendor. The best-selling scooter in the country was dominant that its total sales attributed to 14 per cent of the cumulative volume of the two-wheeler industry amazingly.
The domino effect was that the 22 per cent sales decline for Honda Activa during H1 FY2020 resulted in the entire scooter segment sales going down by 17 per cent with a total of 31,77,433 units. Taking September 2019 for instance, the cumulative sales numbers of the scooter space stood at 5,55,829 units and in the YoY comparison, this led to a slump of 16.60 per cent.
The Activa was the most sold two-wheeler last month as well with a tally of 2,48,939 units. The numbers were improving due to the discounts offered during this festive season and whether more improvements as a whole will be made or not is yet to be seen. Realising the negative economic influence on sales, Honda continued to mix things up by launching new products.
Earlier this year, the Activa 5G Limited Edition went on sale while the Activa 125 became the first scooter to meet BSVI emission standards when it was introduced last month. Offered in three trims, it also gets fuel injection technology despite the minor drop in performance and the design has also been tweaked.