02 Jan 2009:business-standard.com:New Delhi: Two-wheeler maker Yamaha today reported a nearly three-fold increase in its domestic sales during December last year at 16,000 units, compared to 5,524 units in the same month in 2007.
The company witnessed a growth of 13.32 per cent in 2008, at 1,36,468 units as against 1,20,428 units in the previous year, the company said in a statement.
"The year 2008 has been a turnaround year for Yamaha. We have made efforts to replicate Yamaha's global brand image by launching two new models — YZF-R15 and FZ16," Yamaha Motor (India) Managing Director CEO Yukimine Tsuji said.
These two models received good response from experts and helped the company to achieve higher sales as against last year, he added.
"We are aware that these are challenging times for the industry as the economy passes through a slowdown," Tsuji said, adding the company was confident to do well with its current range of products.
The losers
December sales for Hero Honda Motors, India’s biggest motorcycle maker, fell 10 per cent. Hero Honda sold 215,931 motorcycles and scooters last month, compared to 240,532 a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
Other two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto also reported 33 per cent decline in two-wheeler sales during December last year at 119,215 units against 177,249 units in the same month previous year. The company said its motorcycle sales also declined by 33 per cent at 118,510 units against 176,441 units in December 2007.
Three-wheeler sales during the month grew by three per cent at 22,948 units against 22,221 units in the same month of the previous year.
The sharp reduction in two-wheeler primary sales reflects the continuing effort to reduce dealer inventories, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj said in a statement.
"In keeping with its objective to stimulate demand through a major product offensive, Bajaj will, in January 2009, launch an all-new motorcycle," he added.
The first of several models to be introduced in 2009, the new bike will target 'Sport Commuter' segment and is intended to further Bajaj's leadership in the 125 cc+ segment, he said.
For the April-December 2008 period, total motorcycle sales were down eight per cent at 1,534,149 units against 1,660,182 units in the corresponding period previous year.
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