CHENNAI: Scooters may be more preferred by urban customers but market leader Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) is kicking in a new strategy to push rural sales ahead of the festival season. The company is increasing production to better capture the rural markets, where demand is expected to rise, thanks to a good monsoon.

"Currently 28% of our total volume comes from rural markets. Earlier, the ratio was 1 scooter to 9 motorcycles in rural markets but now, of late, with better availability of scooters the ratio has improved to 3:9 ," said YS Guleria, senior VP-sales and marketing, HMSI.

Honda is able to kick off this rural focus in scooters thanks to a recent capacity addition that has allowed it to allocate more scooters for the festival season. "We started with our scooter-only factory in Sanand to breach the demand-supply gap in scooters and we have brought forward the second line in that plant to hit peak capacity by end August," said Guleria. As a result, the piling up of back orders have come down.

"Scooters back orders are down to 18,000 starting September compared to 35,000 last year. For the first time in 10 years, Honda scooters will be available off the shelf this festival season," he added. Typically, given the demand pile up, scooters were not available at the last mile in rural networks. With the new capacity addition, Honda hopes to fix that skew.

Also with a network increase of an additional 2,000 outlets in the last 3 years, HMSI is looking at a more balanced urban-rural mix. Honda commands 59% marketshare in scooters.

The capacity ramp would mean a higher share of scooters in Honda's overall sales mix. In the April-August period, 66% of the company's total sales came from scooters. With the ramp up in capacity, it will be in a position to supply enough to take that to 70% scooters.

Overall, Honda expects a more than 20% demand growth in the festival season as well as the first 10 months of the calendar. "We have been growing at a 22% trot in the April-August period as against the industry growth of 12%," said Guleria.

"We should be able to maintain 20% plus growth in the festival season and through the first 10 months. Overall we are seeing positive momentum already. The 7th Pay Commission, OROP and good monsoon should contribute to good growth," he said.

Source : Honda 2Wheelers India to push scooter sales in rural market

New Delhi: Japanese two wheeler manufacturer, Suzuki Motorcycle India Private Limited has launched the special edition of Access 125. The Access 125 Special Edition will be available exclusively in Pearl Mirage White colour and will cost Rs. 55,589 and 58,900 for the Drum Brake and Disc Brake respectively (Ex Showroom, Delhi).

According to Satoshi Uchida, Managing Director, SMIPL, "The Access 125 has been one of our most successful models. We have enhanced the fashion quotient and introduced the Access 125 Special Edition to diversify our presence in the segment and cater to the evolving needs of our customers. The Access 125 Special Edition is an indivisible combination of substance and style which gives it a retro feel and makes it stand out in the crowd."

Suzuki unveiled the Access 125 Special Edition at a fashion show, where models walked the ramp sporting Jack & Jones clothing, matching the trendy outlook of the Special Edition. Suzuki has formed a strategic business partnership with Jack & Jones, and the fashion show was a collaboration by both brands.

The scooter comes with a trendy, maroon coloured leatherette seat cover. It comes with a special edition logo, round shaped chrome mirrors and brown coloured floor board which give the scooter a retro look and make it stand out in a crowd. This retro style is guaranteed to appeal to trend conscious riders.

The Access 125 Special Edition is equipped with convenient everyday features such as an easy self-start, chrome styled headlamps, analog-digital display and a mobile charging socket as standard equipment. The scooter will also be available with an optional front disc brake. All these features make the Access 125 Special Edition pleasurable and easy to use as your daily vehicle!

Source : Suzuki launches Access 125 special edition at Rs 55,589 (Ex-Delhi)

NEW Delhi: UM International along with Lohia Auto has opened its Sixth dealership in the Pink City Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, to be called The Riders Zone, the new dealership is situated at. B-7, Sethi Colony on Govinda Marg at Rajapark.

Spread over an area of approx. 2100 sq ft, the dealership facility has a showroom with an after-sales service facility to ensure that the customers receive best-in-class pre and post sales ownership experience. The after sales service facility is spread over an area of 1500 sq.ft. and is situated at 19 Sindhi colony at Rajapark.

Speaking on this occasion, Rajeev Mishra Director - UML, said, "This showroom in Jaipur marks our entry in the state of Rajasthan. The state has emerged as a very strong market in the North-Western region for cruiser bikes and the opening of this showroom is a testimony to this fact. We are confident that this state of the art showroom will be able to fulfill the aspirations and needs of our customers with our amazing products and fabulous services. This dealership will house our flagship products like Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports S which has already received an overwhelming response. The prospective customers of UM Motorcycles in Jaipur will be able to discover our products up close and personal at this new dealership."

"We are pleased to be associated with UM Motorcycles, the world's leading manufacturer of cruiser bikes. With this dealership, we plan to bring the best of UM's world-renowned motorcycles in this part of the country. This dealership will serve as a destination for all motorcycling enthusiasts in Rajasthan who wish to experience the world renowned UM cruiser bikes. It is our commitment to provide unprecedented sales and service experience to all the customers of UM Motorcycles." said Mr. Amit Vyas Director, The Riders Zone.

The Renegade Commando is a low-slung cruiser powered by a high powered 280 cc Engine with 25 BHP at 8,500 rpm and 21.8 Nm of torque at 7,000 rpm, mated to a six-speed transmission. This lightweight machine has a 200 mm ground clearance and an inbuilt USB charging point. The front disc brakes improve the braking efficiency drastically while radiation increases the engine efficiency. The bike comes with wide handlebars and hydraulic telescopic front suspension and spring rear suspension, which is ideal for a cruiser-segment motorcycle. The Renegade Commando will be available at Rs 1.66 lakhs (ex-showroom, Jaipur).

The Renegade Sports S model will also share the same engine as the Renegade Commando. The Renegade Sports S was much appreciated when it was showcased at the 2015 EICMA in Milan. The Renegade Commando and its sibling Renegade Sports S come with an electric start. An innovative feature called Service Alert Maintenance comes as a standard fitment in both Renegade Commnado and Rengade Sport S. The LED Lights come as a standard in Sports S version. Six-speed synchronized mesh has been added for easy cruising. The front wheel has telescopic suspension while the rear wheel has dual shock absorbers. These motorcycles have a fuel tank of 18 liters with a kerb weight of 172 Kg. The Renegade Sports S is available at Rs 1.56 lakhs (ex-showroom, Jaipur).

 Source: UM Motorcycle opens showroom in Jaipur, Rajasthan

NEW DELHI: India Yamaha Motor has announced 22 percent growth in domestic sales (including Nepal) in August 2016, selling 74,868 units as against 61,440 units sold last August.

The company continues to maintain an upward trend in sales at the back of its superb product line-up with the addition of the newly-launched disc brake variant of the Cygnus Alpha scooter and the new Cygnus Ray-ZR.

Yamaha's increasing focus on expanding to tier II and III cities, thus reaching out to larger groups of target population has also been instrumental in boosting sales.

Commenting on the company's sustained growth, Roy Kurian, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Yamaha Motor India Sales said, "The major breakthrough in sale numbers is the result of Yamaha's continuous dedication to develop its products by exploring widely held customer choices. The vantage through strategic approach of customer centric activities and network development has contributed to the strong momentum. Yamaha received fantastic response from the market for its impeccable line up of scooters like Yamaha Fascino, Cygnus Alpha (disc brake) and newly introduced Cygnus Ray-ZR."

As a part of its vision to grow as a personal mobility brand, Yamaha offers an attractive line-up of scooters including the new Cygnus Alpha disc brake version for family riding, the fashion scooter Fascino, unisex scooter Cygnus Ray Z and Cygnus Ray - ZR for real boys, apart from the popular motorcycles like the R Series, FZ Series and Saluto Series.

Source: India Yamaha Motor registers 22% domestic sales growth in August