Honda Is The No. 1 Selling Two-Wheeler Brand In Tamil Nadu

The company's sales grew by 34 percent ahead by 2 percent of Tamil Nadu industry. HMSI now holds 35 percent of the market in the state of TN. The company claims that one in every three customers is buying a Honda two-wheeler in the state.

Mr Minoru Kato - President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. announced, "I thank our valued customers who have made Honda the Most preferred brand in Tamil Nadu. 2017-18 is definitely the most challenging year for Honda 2Wheelers India till now."

He added, "India operation is already the No. 1 contributor to Honda's global two-wheeler business. This year we are aiming 6 million units with 20 percent growth over the large existing base. Undoubtedly, our aggressive plans for key states including Tamil Nadu will play an important role in contributing to this growth of Honda in India."

Re-positioning with Honda's vision to extend its reach in India through its ‘closer to market' approach, the company inaugurated its new Zonal office in Coimbatore, Honda's 2nd Zonal office in Tamil Nadu after Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the only state in the south region to have two zonal offices.

Elaborating on how Honda's becoming No. 1 brand in Tamil Nadu, Mr Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President - Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said, "Within regions, the more progressive South and West regions are today leading the scooterisation of India. As the second largest scooter market in India, Tamil Nadu is clearly a trend-setting state."

He added, "There is a dramatic evolution of two-wheeler industry in Tamil Nadu. Now nearly every 2nd customer chooses to ride home on a scooter. Mopeds which always had a stronghold in Tamil Nadu have seen a sharp drop in contribution every year. Now only 1 in 10 two-wheelers sold in the state is a moped."

The pace of scooterisation is faster in South and West region compared to All India average. Within the Southern region, Tamil Nadu is one state wherein scooter penetration is almost reaching 50 percent level.

TN is India's second biggest scooter market, all thanks to better road infrastructure, women entering the workforce, high convenience, advanced technology and co-usage are acting as a tailwind for increased demand for Honda scooters.

Backed by this trend, Honda's market share has grown seven times to 35 percent in April 2017 from only 5 percent a decade ago in TN. Automatic scooters have overtaken both 110cc motorcycles and mopeds as the number one choice of customers in the state.

Being a critical market, Honda will expand its network reach by more than 40 sales and service touch-points in semi-urban and rural areas over the existing 405 outlets in Tamil Nadu.

As a responsible company, Honda is putting people first. Skilled safety instructors at Honda's 11th traffic park at Coimbatore are actively promoting road safety on a daily basis and have already educated over 14,000 people in 5 months. Additionally, the company, today inaugurated a Special Summer Camp to educate young minds on road safety in Coimbatore city via fun, practical and theory programmes.