RESEARCH DESIGN

Introduction

The two-wheeler industry in India has grown rapidly in the country since the announcement of
the process of liberalization in 1991 by the then finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, now
Prime Minister of India. Previously, there were only a handful of two-wheeler models available
in the country. Currently, India is the second largest producer of two-wheelers in the world. It
stands next only to China and Japan in terms of the number of two-wheelers produced and the
sales of two-wheelers respectively. In the year 2005-2006, the annual production of two-
wheelers in India stood at around 7600801 units. The trend of owning two-wheelers is due to a
variety of facts peculiar to India. One of the chief factors is poor public transport in many parts
of India. Additionally, two-wheelers offer a great deal of convenience and mobility for the Indian
family. Bajaj auto began trading in imported Vespa Scooters in 1948. Meanwhile Automobile
Products of India (API) commenced production of scooters in the country in the early 50s. Until
1958, API and Enfield were the only producers of two-wheelers in India. However, Bajaj signed
a technical collaboration in 1960 with Piaggio of Italy to produce Bajaj Scooters. This deal
expired in 1971. The condition of motorcycle manufacturers was no different. Until the mid 80s,
there were only three major motorcycle manufacturers in India namely Rajdoot, Escorts, and
Enfield. The two-wheeler market was opened to foreign manufacturers in the mid 80s. The
industry, which had seen a smooth ride before, faced fierce foreign competition. Motorcycle
companies like the Yamaha, Honda, and Kawasaki, set up shop in India in collaboration with
various Indian two-wheeler companies. Companies like Escorts, Rajdoot and faced immense
competition from smaller 100 cc Japanese technology motorbikes. Bikes manufactured by Hero
Honda, the only company manufacturing four-stroke bikes at that time, gained massive
popularity. In the mid 80s, Kinetic introduced a variomatic gearless scooter in collaboration
with Honda. This scooter became instantly popular with the younger generation, especially
people who found it difficult to use geared scooters. The introduction of scooterettes created
another segment for people such as women and teenagers who could not get used to driving
either motorcycles or gearless scooters. Many companies such as Kinetc, TVS, and Hero also
started manufacturing mopeds that proved immensely popular with people who wanted a simple
riding machine. The change in the governments policy owning to pollution control norms and
the Kyoto agreement saw the phasing out of two stroke two-wheelers from production. Currently
there are around 10 two-wheeler manufacturers in the country, they being Bajaj, Hero, Hero
Honda, Honda, Indus, Kinetic, Royal Enfield, Suzuki, TVS, and Yamaha. The latest trend in the
two-wheeler market is the introduction of electrically operated vehicles from a range of
manufacturers such as Indus and Hero. These can be recharged from convenient household
electrical points. The only disadvantage is speed, which is restricted to around 25 miles per hour.
Currently, the motorcycle market is witnessing a demand for higher volume engines. Previously,
the 100 c bikes were very popular owning to the high fuel efficiency offered. However, the
market is maturing fast. Sensing this movement, Bajaj has introduced the Bajaj Pulsar, with 150,
180 and 200 cc engines with Dual Twin Spark Ignition (DTSi) technology.

Continuing with monthly report of the sales figures of Indian bikes, here it presents the
consolidated results for the month of July 2009. July has been the month which could safely be
called as the best month for the Indian two wheeler industry after the black clouds of recession.
All the manufacturers performed well and the momentum definitely seems to be picking up.
Lets see how well the respective companies performed figurewise.

Hero Honda: The leader of the industry for a long time now, continues its dominance with a
huge gap. They reported an impressive 30.39 percent rise in sales compared to July 2008. Hero
Honda sold 3,66,808 motorcycles compared to 2,81,317 sold in July 2008. The company
reported a huge jump of 83.28 percent in its net profit at Rs. 500.11 crore for the previous quarter
ended June 30. Net profit for the first quarter for the last fiscal was at Rs 272.87 crore.

With a domestic market share of more than 59 percent, Hero Honda is in the strongest position in
the history of Indian market claimed Pawan Munjal, CEO and MD of Hero Honda . With each
passing month the strength of the brand gets even stronger and with the companys concentration
on volume selling models, it is expected to just grow bigger. Forthcoming launches expected
from the company are ultra low cost 75cc and 110cc fuel efficient bikes which would be priced
at Rs. 20,000 along with the much touted upgrade for Karizma.

Bajaj Auto: After some dismal sales for the past few months, July was easily the best month for
Bajaj. The company reported almost a negligible drop in sales. Bajaj sold a total of 1,92,835
vehicles this month as compared to 1,93,704 sold in July 08 with a positive change in the total
vehicles exported which stood at 68,585 units in July 09 as compared to 67,253 units last July.
Individually, Bajaj sold 1,68,163 motorcycles compared to 1,68,836 sold last July and a total of
1,68,731 two wheelers against 169,971 in July 08. With some good results coming their way,
Bajaj announced an increase in their Pulsars production capacity to 50,000 bikes per month last
month. This month, owing to good sale figures and good future prospects along with some
dashing recent bikes in the market, Bajaj has announced an increase of domestic motorcycle
production by about 25 percent in the forthcoming months.

Bajaj reported that they sold about 10,000 units of the latest 100cc Discover DTS-Si already
which was launched on 17 July 2009 and the plans for August are close to 20,000 units. It also
reported that with some fantastic launches recently Bajaj has been able to match their year on
year sales for the first time after the downturn last year. The company is also expected to launch
a new entry level commuter bike along with Avenger getting the 220cc DTSi engine from the
Pulsar 220 DTSi, though there is still no word on the launch of the much awaited Kawasaki
Ninja 250R.

TVS Motors: Standing third in terms of motorcycle sales in India is the Chennai based TVS
Motor Company which posted a 2 percent increase in July 2009. TVS sold 1,20,994 units as
against 1,18,545 units sold during the same month last year. If we talk about the domestic sales,
TVS sold 1,07,883 units in July 09 as compared to 1,02,530 units in July 2008 registering a 5
percent growth in sales.