Classic 350 vs Hunter sales – Is the roadster eating into Classic’s market share? We present some interesting numbers…
Of late we have been talking about Royal Enfield a lot, more specifically about its insane grip in its specialized segment. You can read the following two articles to understand why we have started calling it the ‘Emperor‘!
So How BIG is Royal Enfield…?
FEATURED: Who Rules the Premium Motorcycle Segment in India in Sales…?
But while casually browsing through its sales split ie modelwise numbers, I noticed something very interesting. All is not well with the largest seller from the company – the Classic 350. And this is saying a lot for a motorcycle that has been a massive seller in the last many years in the country. Here are some numbers..
Classic 350 vs Hunter Sales – Dec to June
| Classic 350 | Hunter | ||
| 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
| December | 20682 | 34723 | 17261 |
| January | 26134 | 26775 | 16574 |
| February | 27461 | 30082 | 12925 |
| March | 24466 | 32694 | 10824 |
| April | 26781 | 32575 | 15799 |
| May | 26350 | 29959 | 18869 |
| June | 27003 | 25425 | 16162 |
- In the last seven months sales data I have listed above, Classic registered fall in as many as six months!
- Even in the overall seven months, Classic is down by more than 33,000 units.
- It registered total sales of 1,78,877 units – at an average of 25,554 units per month.
- This means that Royal Enfield lost almost 1 month and 10 days of sales for the motorcycle as compared to the same period in FY22.
Next I looked at Hunter’s numbers. The roadster that has been priced very aggressively, has registered total sales of more than 1.08 Lakh units in these seven months.
In normal circumstances, Classic would have registered some kind of growth (of let’s say 25,000-30,000 units) year on year (during these seven months). Which means that Hunter ate up, not just those 33,000 units that the Classic sold less, but a total of almost 60,000 units (including notional growth numbers that we discussed above).
Clearly, the Hunter, has brought in a lot of new customers into the Royal Enfield’s fold but it has also impacted the Classic. If not the entry variant Retro, many buyers of the Classic would have ended up buying the the higher priced Metro. And this we are talking about numbers before the Triumph and Harley came into the picture.
In case you are interested in knowing the complete sales chart ever since the Hunter’s dispatches started, here are the numbers…
Classic 350 vs Hunter – Aug to June
| Classic 350 | Hunter | ||
| 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
| Aug | 18993 | 23453 | 18197 |
| Sep | 27571 | 13751 | 17118 |
| Oct | 31791 | 19728 | 15445 |
| Nov | 26702 | 19601 | 15588 |
| Dec | 20682 | 34723 | 17261 |
| Jan | 26134 | 26775 | 16574 |
| Feb | 27461 | 30082 | 12925 |
| Mar | 24466 | 32694 | 10824 |
| Apr | 26781 | 32575 | 15799 |
| May | 26350 | 29959 | 18869 |
| June | 27003 | 25425 | 16162 |
- So, in the last 11 months of Hunter’s existence, Classic 350 has registered fall in seven months (and growth in only 4 months).
- In overall sales of last 11 months Classic, which crossed 5 Lakh units in FY22 (Aug 2021-June 2022), fell 38,188 units short this time.
- Hunter, meanwhile, registered total sales of almost 1.75 Lakh units in first 11 months, till June 2023.
So, in the nutshell, while the overall sales for the company have definitely grown, there has been cannibalization within the portfolio between the top two sellers. I am not sure if this was planned and understood but some kind of worry should have crept in within Royal Enfield seeing the flagship model record lesser sales, month after month…
