Despite an increase in domestic two-wheeler sales, exports fell to a two-year low last month (October).
As per data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM), October saw the biggest drop in two-wheeler exports—the lowest since April 2020.
Last month, 2,87,319 two-wheelers were exported, while 15,77,694 were sold domestically.
Export contribution
Businessline reported that the export share in Bajaj Auto’s total sales in 2021 stood at nearly 56 per cent against 49.44 per cent in 2020. Exports of Bajaj Auto in 2021 grew 32.5 per cent to 2.23 million (1.68 million in 2020).
TVS Motor company’s export contribution grew to 34 per cent in 2021 from 24.44 per cent in 2020.
Demands from South Asia, West Africa and Latin America had helped TVS grow exports by 71 per cent to 1.09 million units in 2021 (6.43 lakh in 2020), and Hero MotoCorp had clocked a growth of 71 per cent in export volumes to 2.89 lakh in 2021 (1.69 lakh in 2020).
Inflationary pressures
As per experts, the exports of two-wheelers in the country are going down due to inflationary pressures.
“There has been a strengthening of the dollar, which has resulted in a currency devaluation and led to inflation in many countries, especially in South Asian and African markets. This has also resulted in shortages of foreign exchange in those countries. These factors have resulted in lower demand from these markets causing a fall in export numbers of two-wheelers,” said Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM
Moving ahead
The impact on exports of two-wheelers is expected to continue. “Many nations have put restrictions on imports to conserve forex, which is expected to continue to impact export volumes in the near term. “Nigeria, one of the key export markets, started implementing a ban on motorcycles, mainly motorcycle taxis, in several busy districts in Lagos in June 2022, which has also impacted the offtake,” said Rohan Kanwar Gupta, Vice President & Sector Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA.
