Royal Enfield one bright spot in gloomy motorcycle market

New Delhi: At a time when the Indian motorcycle industry is witnessing a prolonged downhill ride, niche bike maker Royal Enfield has defied the trend posting over 50 percent sales growth for the April-September period.

The maker of popular bikes like, Bullet, Classic and Thunderbird, sold 2,29,538 units in the April-September period compared with 1,52,666 units in the same period of the previous fiscal, up 50.35 percent.

The overall motorcycle sales in India were down 4.06 percent during the six-month period at 55,91,328 units as against 53,64,391 units in the same period last fiscal.

"Demand for our products continues to be exceedingly high and our order books continue to be very strong and healthy. We are absolutely on track with our plans to manufacture 4,50,000 units by the end of 2015," a Royal Enfield spokesperson said.

"In April-June period we sold 1,06,613 units and we have bettered that during July-September period where we sold 1,27,611 units. That makes the third quarter of 2015 the best ever quarter at Royal Enfield," the spokesperson added.

The company's performance is in sharp contrast to the overall segment, which has been reeling under a slowdown with rural sales affected by below normal monsoon in several parts of the country.

Market leader Hero MotoCorp saw its motorcycle sales dip by 4.99 percent to 28,11,421 units during the April-September period as against 29,59,192 units in the same period year ago.

Similarly, motorcycle sales of Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India dropped by 15.45 percent to 7,67,212 units from 9,07,489 units year ago.

Bajaj Auto saw its domestic sales grow marginally to 9,55,148 units in April-September period compared with 9,52,492 units in the same period of the previous fiscal.

According to analysts, Royal Enfield has been able to defy the market trend mainly due to its mid-range positioning of its products, with price ranging between Rs 1.17 lakh and Rs 2.16 lakh (on-road in Delhi).

Top-end player Harley Davidson sold 2,176 units during the last six months in India compared with 2,307 units in the same period of previous fiscal, a dip of 5.67 percent.

Similarly, British superbike maker Triumph reported 11.41 percent decline in its sales during the period at 590 units as against 666 units in same period of the last fiscal.