Suzuki Overtakes Hero to be the Third-Largest Scooter Maker in India

Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd (SMIPL) has overtaken Hero MotoCorp to be the third-largest scooter maker by sales in the first half (H1) of the current fiscal, according to the latest data by auto industry body SIAM. Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) continues to be the undisputed leader in the segment followed distantly by Chennai-based TVS Motor Company.

In April-September this fiscal, SMIPL sold a total of 3,41,928 units of scooters as compared to Hero MotoCorp's 2,49,365 units, as per Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data.

During the comparable period a year ago, SMIPL had sold 2,91,847 units as compared to Hero MotoCorp's 3,91,019 units. In terms of growth, SMIPL saw its scooter sales grow by 17.16 per cent in April-September this fiscal -- the only scooter maker among top the top five manufacturers to post positive numbers.

Hero MotoCorp, on the other hand, witnessed a decline of 36.23 per cent in the same period. The total scooter market had declined by 16.94 per cent to 31,17,433 units in the first half of the ongoing fiscal as compared to 37,53,064 units a year ago, as per SIAM. As for market leader HMSI, scooter sales stood at 17,32,579 units as compared to 21,82,860 units in the same period last fiscal, down 20.62 per cent.

Second-placed TVS Motor sold 5,98,617 units in the April-September period as against 6,44,981 units, a decline of 7.19 per cent. India Yamaha Motor continued to be in the fifth spot with a sales of 1,57,483 units as compared to 1,98,385 units in the corresponding period last fiscal, a decline of 20.61 per cent, according to the SIAM data.