Two Wheeler Brands (Models) Which Ruled the Last Decade in India

We published the news that Bajaj Pulsar has crossed five million marks. But there is a question that which are the brands which have ruled Indian two wheeler market in last decade?  Here is the list of brands which have ruled the Indian two wheeler market.

Hero Splendor:  The king of the two wheeler brands not only in India but across the world. There is no motorcycle in India yet which has surpassed the sales of Splendor. Splendor was launched in the year 1994 and it became an instant hit for Hero Motocorp formerly known as Hero Honda since it was launched when motorcycle era was started. It took 10 years for Splendor crosses five million mark which it crossed in the year 2004.

However, another six million units were added in just five years. In the November 2009 it crossed the 11 millionth mark. Splendor is available in 100cc and 125cc variant. The most important thing is Hero Splendor engine does not change much since it was introduced in 1994. Its look also remains the same except some facelifts.  Currently it sells more than 1,75,000 units a month and it is the only 2 million units a year brand.  It is to be noted that only Bajaj Auto and now HMSI’s total sales is more than alone Hero Splendor’s sales.

Bajaj Discover: The strong rival of Splendor, Discover was introduced in the year 2004 and since then it’s became the second best commuter motorcycle in India. It has seen total six variants since it was launched.  The first variant of Bajaj Discover was Discover 125cc and then company launched 112cc, 135cc, 100cc, 150cc and 125cc. The company discontinued three variants Discover 125cc launched in 2004, Discover 112cc launched in 2005 and Discover 135cc launched in 2008.

The company now have 100cc, 125cc and 150cc Discover under its portfolio. From all of the brands which ruled last decade, Discover is the fastest one to cross five million milestone. It crossed five million milestone in the month of September 2011 and it’s nearing to cross six million units. The major sales growth has came when Discover entered into 100cc segment with DTS-I technology. Currently it sales around 1,20,000-1,30,000 units each month and it’s second largest selling brand after Hero Splendor.

Hero Passion:  Passion the second name of style in 100cc segment. Passion was introduced in the year 2001 and it became an instant hit. It was the second largest selling brand in India until Bajaj Discover replaced it. There is no such details how much Hero Passion has sold till the date but it should have sold more than five million units or nearing the same.  It has many variants but the engine is same across all variants. It is currently third largest selling motorcycle brand in India with monthly volume of more than 1 lac units.

Bajaj Pulsar:  The king of performance segment in India since it’s launched in 2001. Not to write more about Pulsar as we have all the details in Pulsar crosses five million milestone. It currently sales around 75,000-80,000 units monthly and soon it may cross one lac mark with next generation Pulsar in the market place.

Honda Activa: HMSI’s flagship brand in India. Although HMSI also produces motorcycle, its major sales come from the scooter and in scooter it comes from Activa. Actvia has revived the scooter segment (not to argue for gearless or geared scooter). Its India’s largest selling scooter and it’s the only brand which still has waiting period since its launched in 2000. Honda Activa crossed two million mark in the year 2007 and it is very near to cross five million mark. In the recent month Honda Activa is selling more than a lakh units and it may possible that it will soon have second spot in the largest selling brand in India as the scooter demand is growing at rapid pace.

The main thing about the above top five brands are they account for more than 50% sales of company’s total sales. Hero Splendor and Passion account for nearly 60% of Hero Motorcorp’s total sales. Bajaj Pulsar and Discover account for more than 65% of Bajaj Auto’s total sales and Honda Activa alone accounts for more than 50% sales of HMSI’s total sales. There are fewer chances that we will see major change for this decade except Honda’s 100cc motorcycle Dream Yuga. The above brands have occupied their space in consumers mind. It’s very difficult to replace.