Chennai: As the June sales numbers roll in, two wheeler stats seem to be bleeding a lot less than cars, SUVs or even trucks and buses. Reason: exports. Two wheeler volumes declined just 8% y-o-y in June as the domestic slump was partially offset by a 9% growth in exports. Two wheeler companies that managed to cut their losses or even stay sales positive were ones which have aggressive export strategies in place. Companies like Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor, for instance, saw an 11% and 4% increase in exports respectively helping offset domestic sluggishness. Even companies like Royal Enfield, with a smaller volume export exposure, helped cut sales losses in June from 54% domestic decrease to 22% overall decrease thanks to global sales.
Take Bajaj Auto which saw a 4% jump in motorcycle sales to 3,51,291 units in June 2019 compared to 3,37,752 units in June 2018. This was entirely thanks to exports. The company saw a 1% drop in domestic motorcycle sales at 1,99,340 units in June 2019 but export sales increased by 11% to 1,51,951 units helping the overall tally.
Ditto for rival TVS Motor which saw total two wheeler sales dropping 6% at 283,461 units in June 2019 as against 301,201 units in the year ago period. In the domestic market, two-wheeler sales dropped 8 per cent at 226,279 units compared to 246,176 units in June 2018. The company’s bike sales went up 2% from 128,825 units in June 2018 to 131,331 units in June 2019. Scooter sales at 99,007 units were down nearly 4%. Total two-wheeler exports grew by 4% increasing from 55,025 units in June 2018 to 57,182 units in June 2019.
The story is no different with Royal Enfield which sold 58,339 units in June down 22% from 74,477 units last year. Domestic sales were down 54% at 55,082 units in June 2019 as against 72,588 units sold last June but exports were up at 3257 units an increase of 72% over the 1889 units clocked in June 2018.
Not surprisingly, two wheeler companies are focusing extra attention on global sales. Said a Royal Enfield spokesperson: “International markets pose significant opportunities for us in creating a mid-size segment. We have an extensive geographical reach with 600+ global dealer touch points and more than 42 exclusive stores across 50+ countries and are doing really well in our priority markets - South East Asia, Latin America and Europe. We have made inroads in the US and the launch of the 650 Twins have given us a bigger impetus into these markets.”
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com