Scooter Sales up in India
Mar 30th, 2006 | by Neil Barton | Posted in scooters | Comments Off
NEW DELHI: Honda Motorcycles & Scooters India Pvt Ltd and Bajaj Auto Ltd led their rivals in sales growth in February as consumers in the world’s second-biggest market for two-wheeled vehicles bought more scooters.
Honda Motorcycles sold 45,935 scooters, 62% of the month’s total for all makers and 29% higher than in January, according to data published today by the New Delhi-based Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
The Activa, a 102 cc automatic Honda scooter, is helping revive sales of scooters in India where consumer preference had switched to bigger-wheeled motorcycles since the mid-1990s.
Sales of scooters rose 10% in February, while cumulative 11-month sales in the fiscal year to March 31, 2006, remained lower.
“The scooter is back in vogue and it is a big hit with college-goers,” said K K Mital, who manages the equivalent of $45 million, including shares of Bajaj and two other listed automobile companies, at Escorts Asset Management Ltd. “Bright colours and automatic transmission have changed the image of scooters.”
