NEW DELHI: Domestic two-wheeler sales are yet to recover from a slowdown, but manufacturers in India continue to enjoy strong demand for their products in overseas markets.
According to data available, exports of top 6 OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) have grown by 43% year-on-year in August 2021 even as domestic sales have fallen by 15% during the month.
Leading the export market from India is Pune-based Bajaj Auto.
In August, its overseas shipments of 180,339 units saw a strong 26% year-on-year growth while demand in India fell 11% during the month to 157,971 units.
In the first 5 months of this fiscal, Bajaj’s 2W export has grown by 106% to 911,429 units as against 442,868 units shipped during April-August FY21.
Similarly, Chennai-based TVS reported that two-wheeler exports witnessed a growth of 60% at 94,314 units in August as against 58,888 units in the year-ago month.
“The demand in the export market continues to be robust, and container availability is improving. We are optimistic of further improvement in container availability in the coming months,” TVS said.
Domestic two-wheeler sales of TVS stood at 1,79,999 units in August 2021 as compared to 2,18,338 units in the year-ago month, down 18%. The company said its production and sales of premium two-wheelers were severely affected due to semiconductor shortage.
Hero MotorCorp and Honda (HMSI), India’s top 2 two-wheeler makers, also saw slump in domestic sales.
Hero’s domestic sales in August 2021 fell 24% Y-o-Y to 4,31,137 units, but exports grew to 22,742 units from 15,782 units in August 2020.
Similarly, Honda’s domestic sales fell from 4,28,231 units in August 2020 to 4,01,469 units in August 2021. Its exports witnessed a near 2x jump to 29,214 units.