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Two-wheeler business gets rolling again
The two-wheeler business has got rolling again after being at near zero for one and a half months following the Great Earthquake on April 25.Suman Bashyal
Some dealers have launched new bikes and scooters while others are planning to roll out their latest products in the next two-three months. Traders said that sales had been increasing by the day and hoped that the market would return to the previous level within a few weeks.
The Honda Unicorn 160, Honda Activa, Suzuki Gixxer SF and TVS Scooty Zest are some of the bikes and scooters lined up for launch by September.
Syakar Trading, the authorised distributor of Honda in Nepal, recently launched an upgraded version of the Honda Shine motorcycle and Dio scooter in the domestic market. It also plans to unveil the Honda Unicorn 160 bike and Activa scooter by the end of July. “Sales started picking up from last week and we have also launched new bikes and scooters,” said Rajan Puri, head of Honda two-wheelers at Syakar. The company has begun displaying Activa scooters at its showrooms.
Dinesh Ratna Bajracharya, head of the Hero division at Nepal General Marketing, the authorised distributor of Hero in Nepal, said that sales had rebounded to 75-80 percent of previous levels. “We are selling 150-175 bikes and scoters daily these days compared to 200-250 before the earthquake,” he said. He added that a number of new scooters and bikes were in the R&D list of their manufacturers and that they would arrive in the domestic market soon after their launch in India.
Meanwhile, VG Suzuki, the authorised distributor of Suzuki two-wheelers in Nepal, is planning to roll out the Gixxer SF bike soon. “We are seeing a better environment now as people are still in a traumatic state after the earthquake and constant aftershocks. It will probably be launched in two-three months,” said Samit Singh, assistant marketing manager at the company.
Likewise, CG MotoCorp, the authorised distributor of TVS in Nepal, is planning to unveil the TVS Scooty Zest by August. “Although the market is returning to normal, we are going to wait for some time before launching it,” said Alok Joshi, deputy general manager at CG MotoCorp.
He added that business had climbed to 40-50 percent of previous levels and would become completely normal within two weeks. “The two-wheeler business has not been affected as much as the four-wheeler market. So we hope that it will return to normal soon,” said Joshi.