The Rise of Indian Two-Wheeler Industry:

Many of us are familiar with the success of Indian two-wheeler industry. Well for those who are not familiar with it just be with us, you will definitely become familiar with it.

As we all might know India just surpassed China in terms of population but it is not the only thing. India also surpassed China in the South-African two-wheeler market. Where China was dominating South-African two-wheeler market with more than 200 brands. After 2 Indian brands made their debut in that market now, there is only 40 Chinese brands left in the South-African two-wheeler brand that too in ICU condition.

Indian brands have not limited their selves only in South-African market. They have also made their presence loud and clear in the rest of the world. Bajaj established their brand in 70 other countries, TVS in 60 other countries & Hero in 40 other countries.

If you still not convinced that Indian two-wheeler brand made this much success, then late me drop the ultimate proof. In top 10 brands of two-wheeler brands of the world (In terms of Sales) 3 are Indian brands.

In this blog we will discuss, how the journey of Indian two-wheeler industry stared. For that we have to take a look in the history and also acknowledge the help of the Japanese technologies. Now you might wonder, “where the hell Japan came in this?”. Well, read this full blog and you will find it out why.

Raise of Two-Wheelers during and post World War 2:

In World War 2 motorcycles took an important role. At that time British motorcycle brands like Royal Enfield, Norton & BSA were the top brands. In-fact these companies helped British army by supplying them near about 2,30,000 motor cycles during WW2. In these 2,30,000 units 1,26,000 were BSA M20, 1,00,000 were Norton 16H & 4,000 were Royal Enfield “Flying Flea”. You might think the number is only 2,30,000 but back this number was considered as a huge number.

Motorcycles and two wheelers started becoming famous in common people after World War 2 (WW2). At this time veterans found excitement, danger & the speed of life in these motorcycles. In this time motorcycles and two wheelers were not only stayed as an essential transport but it also became a leisure and a status symbol of carefree youth. BSA, Norton & Royal Enfield were the top players in this industry util the rise of Japanese manufacturers.

Rise of Japanese Manufacturers:

After the World War 2, Japan made their entry in the motorcycle industry. And soon after dismissed British motorcycle giants with two main USPs (Unique Selling Point) those are a. Affordability & b. Reliability. Let’s discuss how it happened.

After the World War 2, the economy of all country went down so people were looking for an affordable two-wheeler. This demand was noticed by Soichiro Honda.

He fitted a engine (that was used to power the radios of the imperial army) in to a cycle and named it “Type – A” and launched it in 1946. This model was a great success. In 1949, Honda launched “Type – D” with 2-stroke 98cc engine.

Demand of these motorcycles went so high that, Honda had to set up their new factory at 1950. Soichiro Honda also got the patent for the clutch & the transmission.

In 1950 Suzuki also started to assemble engine & cycle and sell them. In 1952 Suzuki launched their 1^st bike. Kawasaki & Yamaha also launched their 1^st bike in 1954.

The demand of these bikes went very high. With a simple statistic you can understand that very well. In the year 1950 the sale was only 10,000 units but by the year 1954 the sales went to 7,50,000 units.

At that time period many small motorcycle manufacturers came in to market in Japan. Each & every brand’s target was to be affordable and do as much innovation as possible. For this the competition was very high. In this high competition market most, small manufacturers got vanished and only the big – four sustained. Those big – four are – Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki & Yamaha.

The innovation was not possible without R&D (Research & Development). Yamaha understood that so they build their 1^st R&D centre in 1954. Honda also set up their R&D centre in 1960. Not only on product innovation Japanese developed up to the minute assembly technique for this they were able to produce more units in low capital. As a result of these innovations Japanese bikes were more fuel efficient, reliable, lighter & cheaper.

Not only small cc bikes Japanese manufacturers also entered in the high cc segment. And due to the strong R&D units it was not very hard for them. In 1969 Honda launched their 1^st 4 – cylinder 750cc engine bike CB750. After World War 2, Honda was the 1^st company to do that.

How British companies went down:

When Japanese manufacturers were evolving in a highly competitive market. British manufacturers were enjoying their monopoly. As a result, they didn’t focus on any innovation or upgradation. They were selling same motorcycles for a long time. This lack of innovation was a major reason for the general public of US & UK to shift towards Japanese bikes. As a result, in 1960 they sold only 1,40,000 units which was lower than Honda’s production capacity.

In 1971, BSA faced huge loss of 3 million pounds. Soon after in 1973, the company filed bankruptcy and the journey of 63years history come to an end.

Entry of Japanese manufacturers in Indian market:

After having a massive success outside of Japan. Japanese manufacturers wanted to enter in Indian market because here a massive population exists who can-not afford a car but can afford a bike. But the Indian market was not open to enter so the Japanese manufacturers made tie-ups with Indian companies to enter, where Japanese manufacturers provide technology and the rest was the responsibility of the Indian company. The major tie-ups are, –

Hero – Honda
TVS – Suzuki
Bajaj – Kawasaki

These tie-ups gave a very good initial kick to the Indian two-wheeler industry. In 1992 TVS – Suzuki’s Supra, Supra SS, Saholin & Samurai had a great market. Bajaj – Kawasaki’s Eliminator, Caliber & Boxer got famous in 1998.

Now you might think, where the Hero-Honda gone? Right?

Here it is, by the year 2002 Hero-Honda captured almost 50% of the Indian two-wheeler market. Models like Splendor, Passion & Glamour was the top selling bike back then.

Conclusion:

Let’s conclude this blog with some facts about Indian two-wheeler industry. Today the tie-ups are no longer exists. But cannot deny the fact that Japanese technology helped a lot to take India this far in the two-wheeler industry. In fact, the most selling bike today in India is Hero Moto corp.’s (Formally known as Hero – Honda) Splendor that was developed jointly.

By the graph above we can clearly see that the sales of two-wheeler in India always going up. There may be numerous reasons but two main reasons might be the affordability & the huge population of youth who are interested in two wheelers.

By saying this I am not saying that Indian manufacturers had done nothing. Bajaj developed their DTS-i technology. TVS is continuously introducing new technology and launching them frequently.

Today top 3 Indian brands are not only bounded in India. They are successfully exporting their motorcycles in a huge scale. In-fact Bajaj have some manufacturing plant outside India.

This proves what Indian Two-Wheeler industry have achieved. Many achievements are yet to come. As an Indian I expect my India will flourish in every positive aspect. That’s all for this blog.

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