[CrAzY dRiVeR]

The low volume market for Superbikes and Imports in the country doesn’t allow for a meaningful monthly analysis of their sales data. However, the same over a longer period of a full year makes for a healthy discussion - and with that goal in mind, below is the 2019 annual report and analysis of the premium two-wheeler market in India.

Note -

• All data has been compiled from the data presented by Auto Punditz.
• These manufacturer-reported sales numbers are factory dispatches to dealerships. They are NOT retail sales figures to end customers.
• Manufacturers like BMW Motorrad, Ducati, etc are not included because data is not available.
• 2018 report can be seen here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...s-imports.html (2018 Annual Report Card - Superbikes & Imports)
• Click any picture to open a larger higher-resolution version in a new window/tab.

5350 premium motorcycles were sold in the year 2019. The market was down by 17% compared to 2018, with all brands except Suzuki (courtesy: the evergreen Hayabusa) ending up with a decline in sales.

Top 20 Premium bikes by sales volume

• Harley Davidson Street 750 still has an unparalleled lead over the competition.
• Unlike last year, where twins took all three podium spots - Kawasaki bags the second place this year with the Z900.
• Interestingly, that also brings three inline4 machines in the top 5 places, with the Harley twins being the only exception.
• Suzuki has another unbelievable run with the Hayabusa. Twenty years since it first hit the market, and even post the announcement of retirals - still remains a market favourite, bagging 5th place.

Top 20 Premium bikes by sales revenue

In a list containing products from 2.5L all the way up to 49.9L, just looking at the volumes without considering the pricing doesn't give the full picture. Given below are the top 20 products that brought in maximum revenue to their respective manufactures -

• Selling 1123 units and with a price tag of 5.34 lakhs ex-showroom, Harley Davidson Street 750 takes the top spot.
• Selling 177 units and with a price tag of 18.15 lakhs ex-showroom, Harley Davidson Fat Boy takes 2nd place - the most expensive bike in the Top 5 list.
• 13.84 lakhs and 232 units bring the evergreen Hayabusa into 3rd place, quite an achievement in its final year of production.

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Manufacturer Market Share and Trends

• Harley Davidson has the clear majority when it comes to numbers - capturing 47% of sales in the premium motorcycle market.
• Kawasaki comes second with 30%, a significant increase compared to 23% last year.
• Triumph is 3rd with 11%
• Suzuki is at 8% market share, whereas Honda brings up the rear at 3%

• Only Suzuki registered growth in sales figures last year.

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Premium Motorcycle sales - Sorted by price.

The below graph gives a clear picture of which products have really caught the fascination of the market, at various price points.

Note - The leftmost product is 5.34L ex-showroom, whereas the rightmost product is 49.5L ex-showroom.

• 7 units of Harley Davidson CVO, a motorcycle that had a price tag of 49.5L ex-showroom last year.
• 18 units of Honda Goldwing, despite the 26.26L pricetag.
• 177 units of Harley Davidson Fatboy worth 18.15L, as mentioned in the opening post. It even comes in the top 5 when it comes to revenue earning machines. 217 units of the Fatbob as well.
• 232 units of the evergreen Suzuki Hayabusa worth 13.84L.
• Street 750, Street Rod, Z900, Ninja 1000, ZX-6R, Fatbob, etc remain favourite in their respective price brackets.

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Marketshare details - by segment and type of motorcycles.

• Cruisers remain market favourite, with 50% market share - thanks mainly to Harley Davidson.
• Sports Nakeds come in second, with 12% of the market. Kawazaki Z900 brings home the majority of those numbers.
• Sports tourers have 11% market - with just three main products, all hits in their respective price brackets. Ninja 650, CBR650R & Ninja 1000.
• Adventure tourers (9%), Retro (7%), Hypersports (4%) Supersports (3%) and litre-class superbikes (3%) form the rest of the market.

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Harley Davidson

• Harley Davidson is still the industry leader, but lost near 20% of sales YoY.
• The entry level Street 750 and Street Rod motorcycles remain the company best sellers, selling 1123 and 355 units respectively.
• Iron 883 (150 units), 1200 CX Roadster (62 units), Forty Eight (91 units), 1200 Custom (74 units) bring in decent volumes as well.
• Harley Davidson Fatboy and Fat Bob sell exceptionally well given the price points. These two machines still remain 'THE' Harley Davidson for many.
• 7 units of the 50 lakhs worth CVO Limited is another achievement!.

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Kawasaki

• Kawasaki lost 4% sales compared to 2018, but gained marketshare from 23% to 30% over the same period.
• Unlike last year, where the Ninja 650 was their best seller - Kawasaki podium standings have two inline4 players this time around.
• Z900 at 411 units takes the pole position for India's best selling inline4!
• Ninja 1000 prices went up above the 10L price tag, but still brings home 262 units for Kawasaki.
• The entry-level 650 platform still brings in good numbers for Kawasaki with the Ninja 650 at 195 units, Versys 650 at 147, Vulcan S at 135 and Z650 at 67 units. 544 units overall.
• ZX10R continues its good run with 161 units, but the ZX 6R as CKD was another masterstroke from Kawasaki and at 178 units - it is way ahead than anyone expected.
• Versys 1000 brought in a respectable 72 units as well.

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Triumph

• Triumph deals only with premium motorcycles in India, although this could change in the coming years with their Bajaj tie-up.
• Tiger is the most valuable brand for Triumph in India (considering the price range as well) - with the XR variant selling 38 units and the offroad capable XC variants selling 57 units in 2019.
• Street Twin sold 167 units in 2019 and is the best seller for the brand.
• The newly introduced and beautiful Speed Twin is off to a good start with 75 units.
• Boneville family forms the backbone of Triumph sales in India. Apart from the Street Twin mentioned above, T100 and T120 sold 32 and 24 units respectively, whereas the Scrambler sold 42 units. Triumph's cruiser - the Boneville Speedmaster moved just 20 units off showroom floors in 2019.
• Street Triple range is considered one of the best street nakeds around - and sold 53 units of the entry-level S variant and 55 units of the very capable RS variant.

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Suzuki

• Bringing up 4th place is Suzuki with 426 units sold in 2019.
• Suzuki is the only player to have registered an increase in sales YoY over 2018.
• The good old 'Dhoom bike' is still the best seller for the company, in its final year of production - Hayabusa sold 232 units during the year, bringing it into 5th place by volume, and 3rd place among top sellers when revenue is considered.
• GSX S750 and VStrom 650 both enjoy good success - with 77 and 116 units sold.

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Honda

• Taking the last position in this list is Honda, with 183 motorcycles and 3% of sales, despite Honda being the 2nd largest two-wheeler manufacturer in the country.
• Honda's new and updated sports tourer offering - the CBR 650R has been their biggest seller for 2019, with 117 units.
• Honda Africa Twin is widely regarded as a very capable adventure tourer - but limited allocation from Honda for the Indian market means it sold only 43 units over the year.
• The massive boat on two wheels, Honda Goldwing, sold 18 units.

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[bf1983]

Wow never knew that the Z900 was so popular! No wonder so many accessories were available compared to my z650.

The Z650 was kawasakis least sold mass market bike behind the exotic H2s and the like. No wonder I got such a good discount with such poor sales. The Harley 750 overall sales are crazy considering I couldn't stand that bike aside from the exhaust note. The bike was pretty small, but still very heavy, build was very average as well considering the price and the engine could bake your legs if you encounter even a little traffic.

[Vasuki]

I believe you could also consider the RE Twins.

Commendable job by the Hayabusa. Man this machine still attracts people.

[neil.jericho]

Thanks for sharing CD, great job in compiling the data and putting it together in an easy to understand format.

While BMW's two wheeler numbers are not made available to AutoPunditz, it is easy to find their overall sales figures for the year from their press release. They delivered to Indian customers (and not to dealers, like the other numbers) a total of 2,403 motorcycles. Over 85% of this comes from the small 310 twins, that translates to at least 2,043 units out of the 2,403. That leaves us with 360 actual superbikes and imports from BMW for the year, which puts them in second last place as of now.

I suspect Ducati will occupy one out of the bottom two places for 2019. If I had to bet my money, it would fall below Honda. It wasnt a stellar year for the brand around the world either. The really good news for Ducati is that 2020 has started off on a great note with the price corrected motorcycles selling rather well. I look forward to them jumping up the ranks in next years report!

[livetodrive]

Any idea why Indian touring bikes could not find a spot in the list ? Scout Sixtyr and HD Fatbob prices might be similar right (or cheaper )? Is it because the brand is still unknown in our country ? Many a times when I appreciate the bike people around me frown thinking I am praising a Hero Honda