2-wheeler January 2023 sales saw an overall increase of 10 percent YoY. Let us list down how each manufacturer did in the market…
Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has released the monthly sales data of the prominent manufacturers that sell their two-wheelers in India. Please note that these are retail sales and not factory dispatches – and hence a more reliable data – as they signify the actual number of registrations done at different RTOs across India.
Quickly, let us delve into the numbers…
2-Wheeler January 2023 Sales – Top 4
| Maker | Jan 2023 Sales | Jan 2022 |
| Hero MotoCorp | 3,70,690 | 3,56,117 |
| Honda | 3,18,184 | 2,58,128 |
| TVS Motor | 2,08,164 | 1,80,543 |
| Bajaj Auto | 1,38,002 | 1,40,469 |
Hero had a market share of almost 31 percent in January 2022, which fell down to slightly over 29 percent this January and that was majorly because arch-rival Honda, which is right under the throat of the Indian major, increased its sales to over 25 percent from almost 22.5 percent last January. From a difference of almost a lakh last year, only about 52,000 units separate the two top two-wheeler manufacturers of India!
Another maker that is doing fantastically well is TVS. Not only has it dislodged Bajaj from the third spot, it is now vying for the second spot. The Chennai based maker crossed sales of over 2 lakh units and increased its lead from Bajaj.
Pune based Bajaj is however losing its grip, and what is more worrying is that the new-gen Pulsar series is not clicking! It was the only company in this list which registered lesser sales than last January and saw a market share drop of over 1 percent.
2-Wheeler January 2023 Sales – Other Makers
| Maker | Jan 2023 Sales | Jan 2022 |
| Royal Enfield | 64,233 | 47,928 |
| Suzuki | 59,554 | 44,542 |
| Yamaha | 47,296 | 42,447 |
| Classic Legends | 3572 | 2371 |
Apart from the fight for the top spot, there is an equally interesting battle for the 5th, 6th and 7th spot in the Indian market. Royal Enfield, with its big leap in sales this January, see it retaining its fifth position comfortably. It saw a market share increment of slightly lesser than 1 percent.
Suzuki also had a very good January and it was right behind RE in terms of growth. Yamaha, on the other hand, was stable with its growth and held onto its numbers – however, in the process it became a fairly distant seventh in the market.
Classic Legends, the maker which now has not one but two well-recognized, iconic brands – Jawa and Yezdi, is still not able to penetrate in the market. The classic motorcycle maker, that has tried various different segments, is still at sub 0.30 percent market share. It is only ahead of Piaggio, which was the only other maker (apart from Bajaj), that saw a decline. The seller of Aprilia and Vespa scooters lost almost 1700 unit sales that made it the lowest seller in the industry.
How do you see ranking changing in the coming months? Do you foresee a big turnaround at the top? And what about the fifth place – can Suzuki move ahead of Royal Enfield? And finally, can Jawa/Yezdi make a mark in the Indian market…?
Note – The above numbers have been compiled from 1341 RTOs across India (out of total 1428) and does not include the state of Telangana.
