Bajaj cumulatively sells more performance bikes than TVS with the Pulsar and now the Avenger series raking in good numbers.
The numbers started to settle in October 2015 after the festive hype as sales figures saw a major shift on some very popular products for the good or worse. Nevertheless, things were as interesting in the performance bike space as ever. At camp TVS, the automaker saw a 16 percent jump in volumes for the Apache 160 and 180 models that sold 25,503 units. Despite new competition, the RTR bikes don’t seem to lose their sheen and the new Draken inspired flagship offering is surely set to keep things interesting even further.
Around 923 kms up north, Bajaj Auto had a mix of hits and misses as the new Avenger range including the Cruiser and Street 220 opened to a positive start. Sales saw a healthy 31 percent jump courtesy of the new models and the company is optimistic that the new Avengers (including the Street 150) will cumulatively clock around 7000 units month-on-month. However, the Pulsar 180-200cc range saw a dip of 11 percent over September 2015. With newer and advanced models like the RS 200 and AS 200 being offered, it was surprising to see the numbers drop especially since the Pulsar 220 is still going strong with a 17 percent hike and 9450 units moving out of showrooms.
Coming to other manufacturers, only Yamaha saw positive numbers in October 2015 for the R15 as the model witnessed a 28 percent rise having sold 3768 units. The recently launched S version has helped the Japanese automaker sell better with the practical single-piece seat finding more takers. Is that encouraging enough for the company to get the newly launched M-Slaz (naked R15) from Thailand to India? We will be looking for an answer to that.
Coming to the losers, Honda is wasting on the opportunity due to its pure ignorance with the CBR150R that saw sales dip by 23 percent while the CBR250R saw sales drop by 8 percent. New colours have been introduced in November on either motorcycle but we don’t see a substantial increase in sales till early 2016, at least till the company introduces the internationally facelifted versions in the country. Coming to the biggest loser, the Hero Karizma is now sinking into oblivion as numbers drop even further with only 285 units shipping out.
