Bajaj auto which one came close to snatch the no 1 position from Hero Honda is now pushed back to 3rd position.
Dismal performance by Bajaj auto in last several quarters cost the 2nd position.On the other hand, Honda can jump to
its skies, while Hero Honda retains the 50%+ market share, its direct subsidiary Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India
managed to reach the 2nd postion in a period 6 years.
While in September, Bajaj was ahead of HMSI by as much as 72,262 units, the lead narrowed down to just over
10,000 units in October. And in November, HMSI beat Bajaj. Remember Bajaj lost the no 1 position to Hero Honda in 2001.
Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj was quick to dismiss the trend as “premature”. “Corporate sales ranking is never done on a monthly or quarterly basis. Its always on an annual basis. As of now, we are number 2. In my view for this financial year a verdict is premature before April 1, 2009. As for the next year, let’s see who is ahead on May 1, 2009,” Bajaj said.
“The fact that HMSI has emerged Number 2 in November shows that our efforts to reach out to customer are paying off… HMSI has been in India for six years now and we have been expanding our dealer network to reach more customers in smaller cities. Our increased supplier network has also helped us deliver superior products at reasonable price,” M Takedagawa, head of Honda’s south west Asia operations, said.