At a time when two-wheeler makers are preparing to brace a single digit growth this fiscal, Suzuki Motorcycle India (SMIPL) seeks to achieve a double-digit growth in volumes on the back of strong momentum for scooters.
In 2018-19, the company clocked a total volume of about 7.48 lakh units (including domestic and export sales), an increase of about 30% over the previous year. For the current fiscal, the company has set a sales target of a million units, which translates into a growth rate of about 34%, which is higher than what it recorded in FY19.
SMIPL ended last fiscal with the highest growth among two-wheeler makers in India. The company recorded a growth of 33% per in domestic sales at at 668,787 units, driven by a strong growth in scooter sales, which accounted for more than 90% of its two-wheeler volumes. Exports grew 7% at about 79,000 units in FY19.
In 2018-19, the company’s scooter volumes grew 46% at 615,520 units, while the scooter industry reported a marginal decline at 6.7 million units.
While the company is struggling to grow sales in the motorcycle segment, its scooter business has been bucking the market trend due to growing customer shift to 125cc segment, where Suzuki’s models are doing well. Suzuki’s 125cc scooter Access was the third largest scooter brand in India by volumes in 2018-19, after Honda Activa and TVS Jupiter.
While a revival in demand for 100-110cc scooter market may take a couple of quarters with the expected ease of liquidity, the premiumisation trend towards 125cc scooters is expected to continue.
SIAM has projected 5-7% growth for the two-wheeler market in this fiscal.