Hero Honda sales rise; Bajaj and TVS fall for March

Hero Honda has reported 15 per cent increase in sales for March, despite continuing sluggish trend primarily due to higher cost of finance.

The company sold 3,20,594 units in March 2008 against 2,77,915 units in March 2007. In the full year 2007-08, the company sold 33,37,142 units against 33,36,756 in fiscal 2007.

However, for the next two biggest two-wheeler companies, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor Company (TVSM), the slide show continues. Both companies have reported a drop of 10 per cent in sales of all two-wheelers for March.

In the case of TVS Motor, the drop was primarily because of lack of sufficient products in the executive segment in which Bajaj Auto has a strong presence, through its Pulsar model.

In the full year 2007-08, Bajaj sold 2.1 million units of all two-wheelers against 2.4 million units in 2006-07 - a drop of 12.5 per cent. TVS Motor's annual sales declined 28 per cent, to 1.09 million vehicles last year against 1.53 million units in the previous year.