Honda will Become India's No. 1 Two-wheeler Brand by 2015-16: Shinji Aoyama

The second largest bi-wheeler manufacturer of India, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), notified that the company would replace the current leader of the Industry, Hero Motocorp, to become the number one two-wheeler brand in India by the financial year 2015-16. While the other manufacturer struggles with dipping sales figures, the company reported sales of 23.66 lakh units in April, 2012 - February, 2013 season, which is a double-digit growth rate compared to the previous year's figures. Concluding this HMSI thinks that it can easily surpass Hero by 2015-16.



"Under the current scenario in India, I believe it will not be 2020, but even 2016 or 2015 by when we will attain number one position here," said Shinji Aoyama, Honda Motor Company, Operating Officer.



While parting with the erstwhile partner, Hero Motocorp, Honda had revealed that the company would become the best two-wheeler seller of Indian by 2020. But the unexpected growth of Honda even wonders the company officials. In the midst of 2012, Honda had taken over the Pune based motorcycle manufacturer, Bajaj Auto to become the second largest two-wheeler company in India.

HMSI realizes that the 100cc and 125cc bikes have a majority role in this sector. Of course, these are the best selling machines in the country. Hero is doing with its ever successive models, the Splendor and the Passion. So as to take over the entry level segment, Honda is planning to roll out the extreme opponent for these motorcycle brands. The company has already rolled out couple of bikes named, the Dream Yuga and the CB Twister. Both these bikes are already hits on the Indian roads.

Concurrently, to build up sovereignty, Honda is likely to launch 3 more motorcycles in the 100-125cc class. The company has already launched 4 new models this year - Activa, Aviator and Dio with HET, and the CB Trigger was the last to hit road. Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) is a wholly subsidiary group of Honda Motor Company, Japan.

"When we separated from Hero, we were quite sure (that) we can take more of Indian customers to gain market share. Indian customers have confidence in our products and technology and a product with the 'Honda' name is sold more here. The current market size (for two-wheelers) in India is 14 million units. If it remains at the same level, (with) no growth happening, we may be number one by 2015-16. But once growth happens, Hero and Bajaj have more capacity and room to produce at the present condition. They have an advantage in that connection but a lot depends upon the market conditions," added Aoyama.