It is happening much earlier than we thought! Honda has come precariously close to Hero in monthly sales. From some lakhs of units difference when both started solo operations, it has come down to a difference of only a few thousand.
Honda Sales April 2017
For the month of April 2017, Honda registered sales of whopping 5,78,929 units which is a mammoth 34 percent growth and their best-ever sales performance for a month. Domestic sales crossed the 5.5 lakh milestone for the first time by recording 5,51,884 unit sales. This has increased their market share in India to 33 percent– Honda’s best-ever so far! For reference, Honda registered domestic sales of 4,14,035 units last April.
Hero Sales April 2017
On the other hand, Hero is on a losing spree! They registered sales fall of 3.4 percent in April 2017. They dispatched 5,91,306 units as compared to 6,12,739 two-wheelers it managed in April 2016. They also fell short of sharing the domestic sales for the month in the official press release.
Honda vs Hero – The Difference
This means that only 12,377 units separated both the companies last month! And it is anybody’s guess now that, unless Honda commits the biggest blunder of its life, it will kick out Hero from the top motorcycle manufacturer slot in the coming months!
Apart from this, in last financial year’s cumulative sales, Honda beat Hero to become the third largest 2-wheeler exporter from India. Another blow to Hero came in the form of losing scooter sales last year. TVS overtook Hero as the second largest scooter seller and more worryingly, Hero was the only prominent maker to suffer a loss in this segment.
So, a lot is wrong with Hero and they should spread their focus to more segments. Continued and only attention to commuters is now about to cost them their numero uno position!
Next Read: New Details on Honda’s Second Motorcycle: Faired Hornet 160F?
