New Generation Gearless Scooters

Scooter manufacturers, especially those who have introduced new-generation gearless scooters, are enjoying the fruits of their labour, as sales have continued in top gear in December.used autos in India

Surprisingly, December sales have made current market leader Honda Motorcycle & Scooter and Bajaj Auto, the erstwhile leader in the scooter segment, mere spectators, as other manufacturers enjoyed bumper sales, that too in the last month of 2010. Auto sales in December are often lower compared with previous months.

In December, TVS Motor and Hero Honda Motors witnessed sales growth of over 100%, while sales for current market leader Honda grew by just 9%. Others, like Mahindra Two Wheelers and Suzuki Motorcycle India saw their scooter sales increase by 72% and 71%, respectively. However, looking at these bumper sales figures, one cannot but help feel bad for Hamara Bajaj, which last year decided to exit the scooter market.

Honda remained the market leader with sales of 76,307 units, taking its nine-month sales (April to December 2010) to 6,65,051 units from 5,22,399 units in the previous corresponding period. However, despite finding favour with customers, the company is still finding it difficult to deliver scooters in time. According to sources, Honda Activa has a waiting period of six to eight months.Tata Showrooms in India

This waiting period for an Activa is proving to be beneficial for others like Hero Honda and TVS Motors. Especially TVS, which has seen demand soar for its newly-launched Wego scooter, on easy availability and a loyal customer base built around its Scooty brand. Hero Honda, on the other hand, has benefitted from its brand image and large dealer network. Increased demand and non-availability of Activa may have played an important role in people trying out the models of other manufacturers.electric bikes in India

While, TVS's Wego, Mahindra's Rodeo and Duro and Suzuki's Access do have features similar to Activa, people did not think much about these products previously. But since the delivery time for an Activa has increased, those not prepared to wait long are turning to other models, and this is propelling sales of Wego, Access, Rodeo and Duro.

During the nine months do December, scooter sales rose 49.2% to 14,92,342 units, while motorcycle sales increased 24.6% to 66,54,280 units. This makes one wonder about the decision by Bajaj to 'sacrifice' scooters to push its motorcycle business.

One of the problems has been that while all scooter makers launched products based on fresh R&D and improved features (such as auto gears), performance and mileage, Bajaj did not make much of an effort on this front. The company continued with its iconic (now defunct) geared scooters.maruti second hand

In effect, Bajaj's scooter segment appears to have died an unnatural and untimely death, mainly due to the lack of support from the family. Last heard, managing director Rajiv Bajaj has said that the company would drop the name 'Bajaj' from its products, showrooms and service centres and re-brand them as 'Pulsar' or 'Discover', after the names of two of the company's best-selling motorcycle variants.

Piaggio More Components For India

“At present, we source 50 per cent of components for our global operations from India and same amount from China. We want to source components from India as much as possible,” Gregorio Alessio Ruffo, global purchase India and development, Piaggio & C. s.p.a. told Financial Chronicle. Tata Dealers In India At present, Piaggio has a vendor base of 100 suppliers in India that provide components for two-wheelers and light commercial vehicles valued at a total € 40 million (Rs 245.2 crore).

A couple of years ago, the company had set up a global purchase office in India, keeping in mind the quality and cost advantage over European suppliers. “As we launch a range of scooters with an engine capacity of 125cc to 200cc, we will be able to expand the supplier base further,” said Ruffo.

The Italian two-wheeler major also plans to introduce its mass commuter segment motorcycles with an engine capacity of around 125cc to 200 cc sold under its global brands Aprilia, Derbi and Scarabeo among others, in India. “We are evaluating the launch of our motorcycle with 125cc engine in the Indian market. For the low-powered motorcycle, we can achieve nearly 50 per cent localisation as it would have a common vendor base with our scooters,” he said.

Piaggio Vehicles, the Indian subsidiary of Piaggio group has invested €30 million (Rs 183.9 crore) to set up a greenfield two-wheeler manufacturing facility in Baramati in Maharashtra. “The facility will have a capacity of 1.5 lakh scooters annually.Indian electric bicycles We plan to achieve 1,00,000 sales volume for the Vespa LX125 that will be launched in January 2012,” said Ravi Chopra, chairman and managing director, Piaggio Vehicles. India’s scooter sales grew by around 49 per cent year on year to 15.17 lakh over the April-December 2010 period.

TI Cycle's Power Scooters

TI Cycles of India, a part of the Murugappa group, expects to grow its electric scooters and bicycles business by 50 per cent in the next financial year, on the back of a renewed interest in electric bikes and with new products, especially the ‘Pedelec', a battery-powered bicycle.

TI Cycles, which is a division of Tube Investments of India, expects its electric vehicles business to earn revenues of Rs 30 crore this FY and “our anticipation is that we will grow the business by 50 per cent in the next financial,” said Dr D. Raghuram, President, TI Cycles. The TI Cycles division made Rs 960 crore in revenues in the last year.

On Monday, Mr A. Vellayan, Chairman, Murugappa Group, received at Dare House, the Murugappa group's corporate headquarters in Chennai, a team of six senior executives of TI led by Dr Raghuram, who had completed a 743-km, coast-to-coast ride from Kollam in Kerala to Chennai.

Dubbed the ‘BSA Hercules electric coast to coast' ride, the team took six days to travel the distance. The idea was to test its electric bikes under all conditions, said Dr Raghuram, and also interact with dealers, school children, customers and promote its ‘faster, fitter and greener' platform.

The Pedelec, powered by a 24 volt battery, which makes cycling easier for the rider, will be launched by March. To be priced in the band of Rs 7,000 to Rs 12,000, the Pedelec, pointed out Mr Rajesh Mani, General Manager, Marketing, will provide a youngster looking to buy an unaffordable two-wheeler an option to own a motorised two-wheeler which is safer and ‘greener'. On a single charge, which could take between 8 and 10 hours, the cycle's battery, along with some pedalling, can last for 40 km. Imported till recently, the batteries are now made by Exide for TI.

TI also expects its BSA electric scooters to get a boost from the subsidy of Rs 4,000 per bike announced recently by the Ministry of Renewable Energy. The subsidy will be given to manufacturers who have 30 per cent indigenised content. This, said Dr Raghuram, is a welcome break, even though it does not match the Rs 10,000 subsidy given by the Delhi Government which helps TI price its scooters at around Rs 16,000 approximately for its lowest-end version which is powered by a 250 volt battery. In other markets, the prices range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000, the latter being the higher-powered 800 volt version. The 250 volt version does not require a licence to ride.