Honda emerged as the biggest gainer in 2016 amongst two-wheeler makers in India.
Despite the year ending with a low with demonetisation coming down heavily on the two-wheeler market, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd (HMSI) registered a gain of 1 percent market share in 2016.
Beginning the year with the launch of the Navi, a unique new product at the Auto Expo 2016, Honda managed to keep the fire of 2015 alive. 12 months saw Honda sell 4,988,512 units. Most of this was propelled by the success of the Honda Activa. The automatic scooter has not just been the best seller in the segment but has also been the largest selling two-wheeler in India for 9 consecutive months in 2016.
The Activa, in fact, has also boosted Honda to register cumulative sales of 28 million units in 2016. The country has so far bought more than 13.8 million Honda Activa units. Mr YS Guleria, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HMSI, said
Despite continued pressures of demonetization in December, Honda sales grew over 50% faster than industry in the calendar year 2016 and volumes grew by nearly half a million (0.48 million units) to 4,988,512 units. As the macro-economic situation post demonetization is steadily improving, upcoming festive season and with expectations of a growth-propeller Union Budget, Honda is cautiously optimistic for the last quarter of current financial year; and hopes to close 2016-17 with a double-digit growth.
In comparison, the calendar year 2015 saw Honda sell 4,508,222 units. Honda’s numbers for December 2016 took a dip due to the demonetization of high-value currency notes in the country.
Also Read: Honda Navi Chrome and Adventure variants coming soon
2017 will see Honda update their existing line-up with more BSIV compliant models. Apart from that they also have the premium adventure tourer, Honda Africa Twin lined up for a mid-2017 launch.
