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The battle for dominance of India's bike market intensifies with Bajaj Auto's launch of the 175-cc cruiser Avenger at a competitive Rs 60,000. Its rivals, though, aren't sitting idle, and promise a virtual bonanza for the consumer. By Kushan Mitra
Motorcycle buyers are spoilt for choice of late, but they still seem to be buying products made primarily by two companies--Hero Honda and Bajaj. Of the close to 900,000 bikes sold in India in the first two months of the new fiscal year (2005-06), Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto between them have sold over 700,000 units. In percentage terms, the two companies combined divide between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of the market, with Hero Honda accounting for half the motorcycles sold in India over the last few years. Yet, with a market that is estimated to touch 6.5-7 million units this year, even a small share is a lot of bikes, and one might think that small players would be abundant. Not quite. Several of the smaller players cannot compete both on the price and fuel economy counts, and many of them are facing financial oblivion like LML and Kinetic if not a marketing demise. Even TVS and Yamaha, which promised to stand up to the duopoly at the top, have lost ground (and market share) over the past two years, because of an inability to be present in the key 'entry level' segment, a segment that is dominated not by Hero Honda but by Bajaj's CT100, a bike many analysts reckon have given the Pune-based company critical volumes after years of losing to Hero Honda. And the story in the meat of the market, the so-called 'executive-commuter' segment, is again of just one company, this time Hero Honda. The Splendor remains the top best-selling motorcycle in the world, with over a million units sold last year. The Passion too racks up incredible sales of close to a million a year; this, despite competition often accusing Hero Honda of making unexciting bikes using old technology. Yet, it seems the rock-solid reliability of its products coupled with astounding fuel-economy (remember the 'Fill-it, Shut-it, Forget-it' campaign) and great resale value has held the company in good stead for many years. Then, there is the fast growing segment for higher-powered bikes such as the Pulsar and Honda Unicorn. Even though people in the developed nations might laugh at 175-cc bikes (that's because, over there high-power means 800-1500cc bikes), in India performance bikes such as the Pulsar and Unicorn are the favourite products among discerning consumers. Already, in the first two months of the year, the segment has doubled in size. Yet, even here, the race is dominated by familiar names, Bajaj and Honda (well, the other Honda company). However, things should hot up in the coming months. Bajaj has recently introduced a 175-cc cruiser called the Avenger and Honda plans to launch a new 125-135cc-segment model. Hero Honda is also looking at launching a product in the 150-175cc market to complement the slow-moving Karizma. But the big news this year will be the entry of Suzuki, or rather the re-entry of Suzuki after its divorce with TVS. Suzuki has brand appeal thanks to its old association with TVS as well as its association with Maruti. But its first bikes are not due to roll off the production line for at least another six-eight months. However, this doesn't mean that the Indian consumer has to wait long if he (or she) wants something different. Yamaha, TVS and LML, in a bid to gain market share, are rushing in models to the market with chunky looks and a variety of colours. Yet, knowing the Indian market, getting consumers to buy anything other than a Hero Honda or a Bajaj bike is going to be a challenging task.
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