Bikes will retake pre-covid peak in two years: TVS

Two-wheeler sales in India will surpass pre-Covid peak either this fiscal year or the next, Sudarshan Venu, managing director at TVS Motor Company, said, indicating a broad-based revival in the economy where demand for entry-level two-wheelers have been languishing in the last few years due to a sharp rise in acquisition costs and the pandemic's financial impact.

Domestic two-wheeler sales totalled 17.9 million units in FY24, recovering from a low of 13.57 million units in FY22 but falling short of peak sales of 21.18 million units in the pre-Covid year of FY19.

Venu said the Indian economy is in a "good situation" with inflation under control, which will drive consumption going forward.


"Economic growth, policy stability, schemes like Make-in-India, PLI (Production Linked Incentive) are doing a lot to catalyse growth. I think the market will continue to grow and will probably reach an all-time high for the Indian two-wheeler market either this financial year or next," Venu told ET.

He said TVS, India's fourth-largest two-wheeler maker, will launch multiple products to grow faster than the market, including a slew of EVs at varied price points to cater to diverse customers. "Electric is, of course, a big opportunity for us. The iQube will have new variants and we will also launch another new electric scooter."

TVS Motor's electric two-wheeler sales more than doubled to about 183,000 units last fiscal, as per vehicle registration data collated from VAHAN portal by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).

Mid-term, Venu expects EVs to contribute 25-30% of the company's total sales. Government incentives, meanwhile, would help in accelerating customer adoption.

"Over a period of time as costs come down, the industry will reach a sustainable level of price and profitability. Until that level is reached, subsidies will help consumers adopt electric. I think some of these things which we're seeing because of subsidy reduction is a temporary speed bump", he said adding, "Directionally, over two-three years, we expect 25-30% of our sales in India to be EVs. That is something which we are working towards and developing a full product range for."

Simultaneously, work is also on to revive iconic British motorcycle maker Norton with the launch of a high-end model next fiscal. TVS Motor has invested about ₹1,400 crore to develop nearly half a dozen vehicles under the Norton badge, which will hit roads in the next few years.

"One exciting area in the next 12 to 18 months will also be the revival of the Norton brand, which we had bought. We will relaunch a completely new four-cylinder motorcycle next year. And then more platforms for different segments from there on, which we believe will have a fit in Europe and America, and also in the fast-growing emerging markets like India and Asean," Venu said.

Exports are a priority for TVS Motor with nearly 30% of production headed overseas. The company recently entered European markets like Germany and France. "We are eager to gather user feedback to align our engineering with the expectations of customers in developed markets," Venu said.