Since the Indian car market is stuttering, the two-wheeler industry is putting on a much better show with Bajaj Auto recently announcing that it registered a sales growth for the month of September 2013. The sales of bikes accounted for 3 per cent rise during the period as compared to same tenure last year. However, this marginal increase in sales is much lower as compared its rival Hero MotoCorp, which registered a growth of 16 per cent in September 2013.
However, the demand for commercial vehicles for Bajaj Auto dropped, which further reflects the ongoing repressive time of the auto Industry. Commercial vehicles manufacturer Ashok Leyland recently reported that the sales of its heavy and light commercial vehicles dropped last month, owing to the economical pressure. Bajaj Auto told that it delivered 3,23,879 bikes during September 2013 as opposed to 3,15,314 units , reported in same period of 2012, resulting in an increase of 3 per cent. The company said that the main catalyst in driving the demand for its bikes has been flagship Pulsar model, whose sales accounted for almost one lakh units.
As far as the figures of commercial vehicles are concerned, it dropped marginally from 44,838 units in September 2012 to 43,936 units this year. The overall sales of all vehicles was about 2 per cent higher in September 2013 with 3,67,815 units as opposed to 3,60,152 units sold during year ago period. Bajaj Auto also told that the sales figures of last month were the second highest for the company in any September. This increased sales figures for Bajaj Auto were mainly boosted by the pick-up in exports, which accounted for 1,46,847 units last month against 1,33,222 units in the same month last year, a rise of 10 per cent. The export figures for September 2013 were the best ever for the company in any September.
However, despite this marginal increase, the sales of motorcycles have fallen by 11 per cent in the first half of the current financial year to 17,09,441 units as opposed to same period 2012 figures of 19,11,147 units. On the other hand, the demand for commercial vehicles gained by 7 per cent to 2,31,164 units in 2013 from 2,17,032 units in 2012 during the time frame of April to September. While the exports declined by about 5 per cent to 7,63,593 units in the first half of 2013 from 8,05,930 units in the same period last year.
In the meanwhile, Bajaj Auto recently told that it will be raising the prices of its motorcycles up to Rs.5000 in the coming time. The company told that in order to douse the effect of high input costs costs and weakening value of rupee, a price rise was highly needed. However, it did not disclose any details regarding as how to much the prices would vary according to different models.
