Over the years, Honda was steadily climbing to reach the top position and for the first time the gap between both Hero and Honda has come down to just 12,134 units
Hero is the No 1 two wheeler manufacturer in the country for years and nobody was able to give a strong fight for the Indian manufacturer until Honda came to the market. Over the years, the company was steadily climbing to reach the top position and for the first time the gap between both manufacturers has come down to just 12,134 units. Honda sold 6,81,888 units last month compared to 6,94,022 units by Hero.
Honda was able to close down the gap significantly thanks to increase in sales of both scooter and bikes. For the first time Activa sales crossed 4 lakh units and bikes crossed 2 lakh units. The strong growth in bikes is thanks to CB Shine 125 which is the segment leader in its segment. With this, Honda was able to beat Bajaj to become the second best selling bike manufacturer in the country.
Also Read : Honda Activa Achieves Remarkable Feat of 1.50 Crore Sales
The sales achievement of 6 lakh unit comes exactly after one year when the company crossed 5 lakh units in April 2017. If the Japanese manufacturer continues the sales momentum we can expect Hero’s crown to be taken over by Honda for the first time in the history. The company is planning to launch 18 updated products this year along with an all new bikes to continue the growth.
But the company won’t able to hold the number one position for long time as there plants are already running close to production capacity and the company is not planning to open a new plant as of now. Even though Honda was able to close down monthly wise gap they are still not able to match Hero in fiscal year numbers. Hero closed FY 2018 with 7.5 million units compared to 6.1 million units.
Also Read : Hero Splendor Regains Top Spot In Sales From Honda Activa In March 2018
One of the reasons for big difference is that Honda’a annual production capacity is 6.4 units from its 11 assembly line but Hero can produce 9.2 million units. The Indian manufacturer opened its eight plant in Andhra Pradesh and the plant will be running in full capacity by 2019 which can produce 1.8 million units annually thus taking the total number to 11 million units.
The export operations of Honda are also on a rise as the company registered 70 percent growth. Honda Activa and Hero Splendor are the leading products in two wheeler industry as both shift positions each month. With the new model Activa is expected to continue growth and Hero is planning to launch more products in performance segment.