Goa’s leisure riding segment small, but growing steadily

When Lemmy of Motorhead sang “On Iron horse he flies/On Iron horse he gladly dies” on No sleep til Hammersmith, he dedicated this song to the Hells Angels who were the bands unofficial bodyguards. At the time it evoked a certain image. Hard Rock, tough guys and the long road ahead, and oh yes big bikes, bikes that cruise great distances with ease. 

The high-end segment in India means less than one percent of the market in the broader two–wheeler segment. It is growing by approximately 30% on an annualized basis for the past few years even when the overall market was experiencing a slight drop in sales. 

The concept of leisure biking means different things to different people. The classical thinking is of a bike well over 500 cc cruising down the roads.

Evencio Quadros is launching the American brand Renegade in the State. The 300cc bike will be officially launched in June, here. Orders for the two models, Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports have already been booked. In April the company signed 6 orders and 12 last month. Deliveries are expected to be made shortly. 

Mr Quadros said “The leisure market is not very big but it is growing steadily. The kind of customers who have purchased the bike is quite interesting. It is people who know what leisure biking is all about. They have either done it abroad or in other parts of the country. Many of them are businessmen and yes some are senior professionals. They want to chill out when they are on the bike. The Goa market is unique in the sense it is a scooter market but 25% of the two wheeler market is motorcycles. The leisure segment will only grow and of that there is no doubt.” 

Asked what his goals were, he said he intended to sell around 20-30 bikes a month. This he said was quite possible given that Enfield he claimed was booking well over 300 orders a month given that they had 2 dealer stores in the State now. 

The big daddy of leisure biking undeniably is Harley Davidson. A senior member of the team sitting at the dealership in Goa said “We are selling around 5 units a month. The sale is being driven by the basic model that retails at Rs 6.5 lakh on road. 10%-20% are senior professionals who purchase these bikes. The Harley is a philosophy and not just a bike. People believe that it is better to buy a small car for what one pays for the basic model. But the Harley owner, is cut from a different cloth. It is about freedom and riding the long and narrow road ahead. The Hog group in Goa is growing and they usually meet every weekend.” 

The Indian motorcycles market  recorded an impressive CAGR of 10 per cent in the last decade (2005-2015), with production projected to rise from 18.5 million in FY15 to 34 million by FY20.

According to “premium motorcycles market forecast & opportunities in India, 2017,” report the outlook for the premium motorcycles seems very promising, as the overall consumer spending and HNI population is on the rise. Newer and advanced premium motorcycle models are available at a number of company outlets and their visibility has increased manifold since 2007.

The market for bikes above Rs 5 lakh is growing by leaps and bounds and if we look at the figures, sales of luxury bikes have grown at a rate of 35 per cent over the past three years in India — the fastest among motorbikes — with an estimated market size is 8,000 to 10,000 units per annum, up from 100 units a year less than a decade ago.

The change in India’s biking culture is fuelling the sale of premium luxury bikes among enthusiasts looking at biking as leisure activity. The trend of organising activities surrounding these luxury bikes such as the formation of biking groups, adventure drives and biking contests is further adding to their popularity quotient.

What is even more interesting is that the demand for luxury bikes is not just limited to the metropolitan towns, but has also reached tier-II and tier-III cities. The rapid network expansion of luxury bike companies to the tier-II and tier-III cities underlines the fact that the market is not confined to a particular geography. In response to the growing demand, the brands too are not leaving anything to chance. Cities like Ahmedabad, Kochi, Goa, Pune, Chandigarh, Indore, Bhubaneshwar and Lucknow are the new hotspots for luxury bike companies.

Luxury motorcycles as a segment is still at a nascent stage in India and any worthwhile investment in manufacturing would require a steady demand pattern in the absence of which, any investment in manufacturing would be rendered futile.

The kind of emotions that a luxury motorcycle can generate is unparalleled.