Auto Zone: Scooter pull

Vijay C Roy

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for scooters. From a high in the 1980-90s when scooters, especially Bajaj Chetak, reigned supreme, to the early 2000s, when some two-wheeler makers saw no future in them and diversified into motorcycles, to now — when every third two-wheeler sold in the country is a scooter.

Comparing the first-quarter sales of the current fiscal year to the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year, the market share of scooters in the total total-wheeler sales increased from 31.35 per cent to 33.4 per cent. During the same period, the market share of motorcycles declined from 66.1 per cent to 64.14 per cent, while the remaining share was of mopeds.

Data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) reinforces this trend. Looking at domestic sales figures, scooters saw a jump from 12,98,355 units in April-June 2023 to 16,64,994 units in April-June 2024, registering a growth of 28.2 per cent, the highest in the two-wheeler category.

In contrast, motorcycle sales grew at a slower pace of 16.8 per cent, going from 27,37,348 units in April-June 2023 to 31,97,922 units in April-June 2024. Mopeds witnessed a growth of 16.6 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal and clocked total sales of 1,22,715 units in the first quarter.

India was predominantly a scooter market in the 1980s and even the 1990s, headlined by Bajaj Auto. Such was the hold of the scooter market that in 1984, when Hero Group and Honda Motor Company came together for a joint venture to produce and sell motorcycles in India, not many expected them to achieve the success that they eventually did. The big change came in 1985, when the erstwhile Hero Honda introduced a motorcycle, CD100. Its mileage of 80 km per litre was unheard of at the time and the onslaught of the ‘Fill it, shut it, forget it’ marketing campaign tilted the two-wheeler market in favour of motorcycles.

Prior to this, Ind-Suzuki, a 100cc Japanese bike, was launched in 1984. Sundaram Clayton, then jointly owned by the TVS Group and Clayton Dewandre Holdings, UK, entered into a collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation.

In 1986, Bajaj forayed into the motorcycle segment. It decided to scrap production of bestselling brands like Chetak and Super in 2005 amid plummeting sales and growing competition from an influx of motorcycles. It again entered into the scooter matter, but tentatively, in 2007 by launching Kristal, but it never achieved much success. Production was stopped around 2010.

The ’80s saw several motorcyle collaborations — TVS and Suzuki (which was short-lived), Hero Honda (a joint venture between Honda Motor Company from Japan and Hero Group of India), Kawasaki Bajaj (a joint venture between Kawasaki Heavy Industries from Japan and Bajaj Auto of India), and Escorts Yamaha (a joint venture between Yamaha Corporation from Japan and Escorts Group of India).

Dawn of gearless scooters

In the mid-1980s, when Indian manufacturers were entering into collaboration with foreign partners, Kinetic Honda, a joint venture between Kinetic Engineering and Honda Motor Company, launched India’s first gearless scooter, KH 100, in 1984. It was a runaway success, despite the premium pricing. However, it never achieved the success such as that of Chetak as the mileage was lower. In 1994, TVS Motor launched TVS Scooty, a light scooter.

The big shift came when Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) launched Activa in 2001. Not only did it help establish the Honda brand, but maintains its dominance even after nearly two decades. HMSI’s Activa gearless scooter quickly became a hit because of its easy handling, electric start, refined engine and distinct looks. Women in large numbers were both users as well as buyers.

Activa’s success gave a new lease of life to all scooter-makers.

Later, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd, Piaggio Vehicles Pvt Ltd, Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt Ltd and TVS Motor Company Ltd joined the bandwagon.

The transformation

All the scooter-makers are making the most of a shift in customer preference. The new models are attractive, appeal as much to men as to women, are easy to drive, have a high utility value (under-seat storage and load-carrying capacity) and are affordable. Manufacturers have even improved mileage figures to bring scooters on a par with motorcycles.

In addition, rising income levels, exposure to new products and brands, increased spending on lifestyle products and emergence of electric scooters are the major factors which are propelling the demand.

Since women comprise a big chunk of the scooter consumer base, so ease of use, lower weight and ease of manoeuvrability are the key attractions for consumers.

Emergence of e-scooters

The surge in demand for electric scooters has also boosted scooter sales. According to data compiled by the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), as per the VAHAN portal, 9.44 lakh electric two-wheelers were sold across the country in the 2023-24 fiscal year, with over 98 per cent of them electric scooters. The e-scooter offering by many start-ups such as Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Ampere, Okinawa and Kinetic Green, besides established players such as Suzuki, Hero Electric and Bajaj, led to the growth of the market.

In India, more than half of motorcycle sales are in semi-urban and rural areas and the rest are in the urban market, which is where scooters have been putting up a tough fight, especially in the entry segment (100-110 cc). Analysts are of the view that gradually, the urban markets for scooters will slow down and companies will have to go deeper into semi-urban and rural areas to gain a strong foothold.