TVS Motor banks on festive season, rural demand to reach pre-Covid level

TVS Motor, the country’s third largest two-wheeler manufacturer, is close to reaching its peak, Aniruddha Haldar, Head of Commuter business, TVS Motor, told reporters on Thursday.

“In the first three-four months of FY25, the industry has grown very well. So overall, at a two-wheeler level, the industry growth is 12-13%. And within that, the scooter segment seems to be growing at a faster pace. We are very hopeful that the festive season will be very good,” said Haldar.

The two-wheeler industry has confronted sluggish demand over the past two-three years owing to an array of factors. According to Haldar, rural demand has started to outstrip urban, further boosting the industry.

“Monsoons, while they have blessed us a little excessively in some parts of the country, but broadly, I think quantity wise, it has been quite, quite good. What we are also seeing in the first six months is the rural demand. The growth in rural demand is starting to outstrip the growth of the urban demand. It’s always a good sign about the industry as a whole. So then motorcycle sales will do so scooters are also present in the city. So motorcycles definitely will benefit from that, and so will scooters,” said Haldar.

Earlier this month, the company launched the new Jupiter 110 at a starting price of Rs 73,700. Jupiter, which was launched in 2004, continues to remain the highest selling model for the company, and accounts for 62% of the total TVS sales. It is currently the second-largest selling scooter model after Honda Activa.

“For us to take this (Jupiter 110) move or revamping and making it future ready, is because we believe that the 110 consumer, the computer consumer, also seeking a contemporary design, high quality performance, better comfort, a lot more convenience, usage of better technology to make the commute better. So that is the motivating factor to bring a better product and to ensure that we can uplift that game, which is also the thinking behind if you look at the pricing by the entry point of the new Jupiter 110 remains the same as the outgoing Jupiter,” said Haldar.

Meanwhile, regarding the company’s plans to introduce technologies such as CNG, Haldar said that the company will only introduce other technologies when it becomes economically viable amongst consumers.

“We’ve been working from that long in this space equally, whether it is flex fuel, ethanol, ice, PNG, or there are work happening on all of them. And then when we believe that there is a market has an economically sustainable segment which can be sustainably serviced and sold to, will definitely come and address the space,” said Haldar.