Japan’s Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has overtaken India’s Hero MotoCorp in the two-wheeler market. HMSI’s total 2W sales (domestic and exports) stood at 5.19 lakh units in June 2024 while Hero’s total sales last month were at 5.03 lakh units, as per monthly sales data published by the two companies.
In the domestic market, however, Hero MotoCorp maintained its lead by a meagre 9,000 units. Hero’s domestic sales stood at 491,416 units last month, translating into a growth of 16% over the corresponding month (422,757 in June 2023). On the other hand, HMSI’s domestic sales, which registered a tremendous growth of 59% year-on-year in June 2024, were at 4,82,597 units.
In the export market, HMSI’s shipment grew by 70% to 36,202 units while Hero’s exports came down to 12,032 units last month from 14,236 units in June 2023.
While the gap between the two automakers has been shrinking since they decided to split in 2011, it has narrowed down considerably in recent times. For example, Honda’s domestic sales were 450,589 units in May 2024 while Hero’s sales stood at 479,450 units. The gap in total sales (including exports) was just about 6,000 units (Honda: 492,047 units and Hero: 498,123 units).