[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 2023 Annual report and analysis of the premium two-wheeler market in India.

3311 premium motorcycles were dispatched in the year 2023 with the market seeing a 11% decrease in dispatches compared to 2022.

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, Benelli etc are not included because the 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)
• 2019 report can be seen here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...s-imports.html (2019 Annual Report Card - Superbikes & Imports)
• 2020 report can be seen here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...torcycles.html (2020 Annual Report Card - Superbikes & Imported Motorcycles)
• 2021 report can be seen here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...torcycles.html (2021 Annual Report Card - Superbikes & Imported Motorcycles)
• 2022 report can be seen here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super...torcycles.html (2022 Annual Report Card - Superbikes & Imported Motorcycles)
• Click any picture to open a larger higher-resolution version in a new window/tab.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

India's favourite premium bikes by sales volume

• A sole Triumph breaks the Japanese monopoly in the Top-5!
• Kawasaki Z900 is (once again!) India's highest selling premium motorcycle with 947 units dispatched in 2023. Kawasaki sold more Z900 motorcycles than the manufacturer with the second largest market share - Triumph!
• Triumph hit a jackpot with the all-new Street Triple 765RS, the motorcycle shooting to second place despite dispatches starting only by August 2023.
• Suzuki's all-time favourite hyperbike - the 3rd generation Hayabusa retains 3rd place - dispatching 271 units.
• Two Kawasaki 650 machines take up the 4th and 5th places. Surprisingly, its their litre class flagship that beats the sport tourers for a spot in the Top-5 this year - the mighty ZX10R dispatching 238 units.
• Versys 650 sales picked up last year post the facelift and the run continues this year as well - ends up in 5th spot with 191 units.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Manufacturer Market Share and Trends

• Kawasaki had their best-ever year in 2023 - and increased their marketshare well above 50%. Excellent pricing, followed by the availability of most of their international models contributed to these figures.
• Triumph concentrated more on the launch of the 400s this year and it shows - the numbers are down even though they still retain second place with 29% marketshare. The Bajaj transition has not been very smooth either!
• Suzuki can do no wrong with the Hayabusa, even if they can't sell anything else!
• Harley Davidson continues to decline further, this time under Hero distribution network - possibly due to the focus on the launch of the X440.
• Honda had their worst year - and almost no supply of big bikes throughout the year. Ends up with 1% marketshare.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Premium Motorcycle sales 2022 - 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 6.69L ex-showroom, whereas the rightmost product is 39.2L ex-showroom.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Kawasaki

• Kawasaki gained 15% sales compared to 2022, all thanks to the Z900! Remains the undisputed market leader with a market share of 55% in 2023.
• The value-priced Z900 brings home the maximum numbers for Kawasaki - with 947 units. In fact, Z900 alone sold more units than the manufacturer with the second largest market share - Triumph!
• ZX10R climbs into the top-5, a first for a liter class superbike in India - with dispatches of 238 units.
• Versys 650 remains popular as ever with 191 units - comes in at 3rd for Kawasaki
• The other 650s have paled in comparison - Ninja 650 with 146 units witness a good drop in numbers, Vulcan S with 37 units, Z650 with 60 units and Z650RS with 23 units.
• Ninja 1000 had always seen good numbers for Kawasaki - but the 1000 twins have been discontinued

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Triumph

• Triumph concentrated on the Bajaj affair with the launch of the 400s and lost 15% compared to 2022 - but still comfortably retaining 2nd place by a huge margin! Marketshare dipped by 1% to 29%.
• Street Triple dispatches began only by August, but it brought in the maximum numbers for Triumph at 288 units!
• Tiger 900 did well with 127 units dispatched, whereas the 660 platform also brought decent volumes with the Trident 660 doing 145 units and the Tiger Sport 660 doing 75 units.
• Speed Twin 900 continues to remain a favourite with 127 units dispatched, whereas the brute force of the Rocket III makes it sell well for the price point - with 69 units.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Suzuki

• Thanks to the evergreen performance of the Hayabusa, Suzuki comes in third with 9% marketshare.
• Hayabusa brings in the big numbers for Suzuki - with 271 units dispatched. The Busa can do no wrong!
• But Suzuki can! They have become a one-bike shop with the other two discontinued earlier this year. Hopefully the VStrom 800 range can revive some sales.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Harley Davidson

• Hero Motocorp (the India distributor for Harley Davidson) had their focus set on their co-developed new baby HD - the X440! The result was not so good for brand's big bike range.
• Harley closes the year in 4th place, with 6% marketshare.
• There is a new Harley favourite in town! The Nightster brought in maximum numbers for Harley with 42 units dispatched
• Fatbob and Fatboy continues to bring in good numbers, along with the Sportster from the entry range.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Honda

• 1% marketshare for a brand that competes for #1 position in the Indian market and has a dedicated big bike dealership network? Nothing much to say other than the fact that Honda showed complete disinterest in the Indian big bike market in 2023.
• The launch of the Transalp by end-2023 was a saving grace. Hopefully that momentum continues into 2024.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Figures

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line!

[AtheK]

Nice comparison, though missing Ducati and BMW kind of makes it a two way race. Z900 and Street Triple making it to top 2 is due to the VFM quotient, Z900 is cheapest inline 4 we can buy today and bike does pack a punch and is pretty loaded. Striple is next most affordable premium sportsbike so good to see it raking up the numbers.

Honda really needs to pull there socks up and if only Yamaha can wake up from a slumber we can see some more traction or this graph will pretty much be a copy paste for next year too.

kudos to kawasaki for being so focussed on India market and deserves all the success.

[a_chelat]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Triumph

• Speed Twin 900 continues to remain a favourite with 127 units dispatched, whereas the brute force of the Rocket III makes it sell well for the price point - with 69 units.

Are all 127 units for the 900? No dispatches for the Speed Twin 1200? We have an ownership report on the forum so there is at least one that was delivered.

Shame that such a wonderful motorcycle doesn't do higher numbers. But then again, even I abandoned the "dream" after waking up to a new Triumph India horror story every other day.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by a_chelat

Are all 127 units for the 900? No dispatches for the Speed Twin 1200? We have an ownership report on the forum so there is at least one that was delivered.

Not able to recollect a Speed Twin 1200 ownership report. We have a Speed Triple 1200RS report for sure. Possible to share the link to the report?

No figures were reported by the source for Speed Twin 1200.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Nice comparison, though missing Ducati and BMW kind of makes it a two way race.

True. Wish we had the data! BMW seems to be doing very well in terms of S1000RRs. The sheer number of bikes that turned up for CSS was amazing - rivaling ZX10R numbers neck to neck.

[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Not able to recollect a Speed Twin 1200 ownership report. Possible to share the link to the report?

This post was about the 2023 Triumph Speed Twin 1200.