The rural centric moped sales not only continued to be in green in the month of August, but also reported the highest growth in the two-wheeler segment.
According to SIAM numbers, total sales of moped (TVS Motor is the sole manufacturer of moped) stood at 70,126 units in August 2020 as against 55,812 units, an increase of 25.65 per cent. It may be noted that in July, moped sales grew by 14 per cent after reporting a drop of 22 per cent in the month of June.
One of the key growth drivers for better sales is the government's priority of spending towards rural development and agriculture, coupled with good monsoon and a healthy sowing season leading to positive impact in August, says Analysts.
Moped sales were under pressure till June due to weak sentiment in the rural market since there was always a worry about delayed monsoon. Moreover, higher insurance premiums, which increased the on-road prices by 12 per cent, and heavy discounts in the economy motorcycle segment also affected moped sales.
But things have turned around since then on the back of good monsoon, positive sentiment in the rural markets, and ET-Fi based mopeds. Ecotrust Fuel injection (ET-Fi) technology provides enhanced overall performance across driveability, smoothness, and fuel economy claims the company.
Addressing an investor call recently, the company's management said that mopeds are getting a good response, thanks to the ET-Fi technology, which gives a host of benefits to the customer and also improves fuel efficiency by 15 per cent.
"And as you know, it has got an Integrated Starter Generator (ISG), which has so many attractive features. So, this rural recovery will help the sales of our commuter motorcycles and mopeds," said the management. ISG is a TVS-patented technology.
TVS Motor, India’s third-largest two-wheeler maker, is the sole manufacturer of mopeds after Hero and Kinetic exited the sector many years ago.
During April to August, total moped sales stood at 1,82,237 units as compared to 2,75,001 units, a drop of 33.73 per cent (YoY).