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May 30, 2007

8 Why are the Japanese lagging behind Indian Two Wheeler Manufacturers..??

The Indian trio of Bajaj, TVS and Hero Honda are on top of the Japanese trio of Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.. what's wrong with the Mighty Japs..??

Motorcycle Sales in India. April 2006-07

The picture on the left shows the motorcycle sales figures in India in April 2006-2007.

It is clear from the graph that the Indian trio of Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor are the market leaders. The mighty Japanese manufacturers Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki which are world leaders have been relegated to lower positions in India.

Among the Japs, Yamaha's performance has been the poorest so far. Yamaha has been in loss since 2001. Suzuki hasn't made so much of an impact with its 125 C.C range of motorcycles either.

When Honda started its production in India everyone speculated that it would be a cakewalk for the global gaint in India. But the Indian Market has been a Hard Nut for the Japanese biggies including Honda..

What is the reason for such a collective failure of the Japanese Manufacturers in India..?? Any Answers..??



Pic: SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers)


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This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.




8 Comments:

first_synn said...

There is no singular answer to this problem, but let me say this much:

The lower end bike customer, who i like to call "The economiser", does not like being confused with too many choices. They already have enough variety from the existing companies.. So it's quite natural that they are ignorant/ choose to avoid "all new" economisers from the mighty wing or the big S or the tuning forks.

The second reason is brand perception. A company like Yamaha has an unshakable image in the mind of the educated motorcyclist, thanks not only to fire breathers like the R1, but also coz of the 2 stroke screamers of the past. Now, he watches these companies make magic on the tracks on a sunday afternoon But when he sees the same logos on glorified lawn mowers on monday, he is bound to feel ripped off. Bajaj and TVS, and even HH, does not suffer from the same stigma.

As far as the higher end segments are concerned, the Japs are yet to show any forms of activity here. And without any competition, the indigenous companies are practically running away with the laurels.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I think this is not a problem but a good thing. Our companies know the market well, which is dominated by the so called 'economizer', and their products suits them much better than the foreign companies.

As for the performance hungry ones, who are in minority (biking infrastructure almost null), it would be tough for our companies to beat the 'giants' as little technical prowess is available with them.

Karthik.

Payeng said...

Interesting insights guys..

Anonymous said...

I think the style and design of the bikes frm japan is not up to the mark or standards of indian so they r lagging behing they have technology but i think they should improve on their design and style of their bikes and even their advertisement and promotion is not up to the mark soo they need to improve on that also.
CAN YOU PLEASE MAIL ME MORE MARKET RESEARH OF TWO WHEELERS IN INDIA OR ANY MORE INFORMATION ABT INDIAN TWO WHEELER MARKET SO PLEASE MAILME MY ID IS:- djjiggi_303@yahoo.co.in
THANKS

Unknown said...

Japanese biggies are not so intelligent as we think them to be, neither they are good designers like Itallians, their marketing and after sales keeps them alive.Basically Honda,toyota copy the drawings by getting them unofficially.Like for example indian HMSI got the price list of spares of Bajaj dealer network of bajaj, how bajaj forms the sales etc by taking care of certain emplyees of theorganisation before launch of acyiva.Only insiders of HMSI know this .
Like wise Honda tried to copy bmw diesels in vein because it was europian they could not get hands on the technical details like in iNDIA WHERE everything can be made available for a price.

Anonymous said...

You really think Hero Honda is so successful because of efforts of the Hero Group?

If it weren't for Honda's technical support, Hero would still be manufacturing cycles and mopeds.

It is just a matter of time before Honda withdraws fully from the Hero Honda and leaves Hero alone to manage the company.

Kinetic died within a decade of Honda withdrawing from the joint venture.

I expect the same to happen to Hero Honda.

Honda has failed to make an impact so far because it still hasn't introduced the right products in India. Unicorn (as mentioned somewhere else on this blog) neither falls in the full efficient segment nor in the performance segment.

Honda makes the best (highly efficient and reliable) bike engines in the world and it is just a matter of time before they get a hold on the Indian market.

Anonymous said...

all these years the japs din really try and do anything different they just did Wat the others did but may be just a little bit better thats why people did not bother about thinking of a product other than the splendor or the passion.. even though they had technology they did not offer anything different than Wat the already established players offered .. companies like bajaj and tvs utilized this opportunity and invested in R&D, bajaj went on to having its own R&D setup and also a 30% stake in KTM with which its is developing various platforms for future pulsars where as tvs already had good R&D setup .. so its gonna be a tough path for the japs as Indian companies today are not only restricted to the Indian market and are having very good export numbers in their hand. of course we cant expect a R1 or a busa from them but not everyone can buy them either in volume space where numbers are important bajaj and tvs are really giving a tough fight.

djjiggi@yahoo.co.in said...

I think the style and design of the bikes frm japan is not up to the mark or standards of indian so they r lagging behing they have technology but i think they should improve on their design and style of their bikes and even their advertisement and promotion is not up to the mark soo they need to improve on that also.
CAN YOU PLEASE MAIL ME MORE MARKET RESEARH OF TWO WHEELERS IN INDIA OR ANY MORE INFORMATION ABT INDIAN TWO WHEELER MARKET SO PLEASE MAILME MY ID IS:- djjiggi_303@yahoo.co.in
THANKS

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