Two-wheelers rode into the slow lane in the first quarter of this fiscal by posting a modest 3.06 per cent growth in sales. A total of 12.39 lakh units were sold in the country during April-June 2003 against 12.02 lakh units sold a year ago, data compiled by the society of Indian automobile manufacturers (SIAM) showed.The moderate growth could be attributed to the motorcycle and step-thru segment which lost steam and recorded a 7.39 per cent rise to 9.74 lakh units even as scooters and mopeds suffered negative growth. Sales of market leader Hero Honda motors grew by 8.29 per cent to 4.53 lakh units while that of the second-biggest Bajaj Auto increased by 5.76 per cent to 2.32 lakh units.Chennai-based TVS Motor Company posted a 7.8 per cent growth at 1.74 lakh units on the back of growing sales of the indigenously-produced 110CC motorcycle Victor.However, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s Yamaha Motor suffered a 50.2 per cent drop to 41,834 units.Sales of Kanpur-based LML jumped by over seven times to 55,295 units, mainly due to strong demand of the 110CC motorcycle Freedom.According to analysts, two-wheeler sales started slowing down from the last quarter of 2002-03 due to deficient monsoon, hike in petrol prices and deadlock on issues related to the implementation of value added tax (VAT) structure.Sales are expected to pick up this fiscal following expectations of a normal monsoon this year, they said. Sales of high-powered motorcycle maker Royal Enfield motors fell by 13.4 per cent to 5,445 units while that of Kinetic Engineering slipped by 16.6 per cent to 8,090 units. Majestic Auto sold 3,826 units during the period under review.
