Market share of scooters triples

KATHMANDU, Jan 25: As more people, particularly ladies, switch to owning a personal vehicle rather than relying on public transport, sales of scooter has grown remarkably in the Kathmandu Valley in recent years.



Recently, Binita Shrestha of Tahachal bought a Hero Honda Pleasure after she took up a job in a cooperative organization. “My scooter has become my best mate. I don´t feel lonely when I am driving it,” Shrestha said and added that her scooter has saved her from hassles of public transport.[break]



Shrestha is among thousands of women who are using scooter for increased mobility. Not only women, several other men are also attracted toward scooter. This has resulted in three-fold rise in sales of this popular two-wheeler.



“The demand for scooters is growing exponentially in the market due to increasing popularity of this two-wheeler among both men and women,” Saurav Jyoti, president of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA), said.



According to automobile dealers, market share of scooters in overall vehicles sale is growing rapidly. Market share of scooters was just 6 percent three years ago; it grew to 11 percent two years ago.



Last year, market share of scooter in Nepal´s automobile market stood at 19 percent. Even though overall automobile sale is on the downturn, dealers are quite optimistic about scooters sale.



“We´ve not been able to supply Dio scooter as per the demand,” Jyoti, who owns Syakar Company - the distributor of Honda in Nepal, said. “The sale of Dio is increasing remarkably. We sold 16,000 Dio scooters last year alone.”



Along with Dio, Syakar also sells Honda Aviator and Activa scooters. It also sells Pleasure scooter by Hero Honda.



Raju Bhetwal, vice-president of SG Global - the authorized distributor of Mahindra two-wheelers for Nepal, said the demand for scooter is increasing due to its easy maneuvering.



SG Global has been selling three Mahindra scooters - Duro, Flyte and Rodeo - in the Nepali market. All the three models have 125cc engine. The company sold more than 700 scooters in just two months of acquiring dealership of Mahindra two-wheelers for Nepal.



The performance of other brands of scooters is also encouraging.



According to dealers, scooters are gaining popularity also because they are small as compared to motorbikes and easy to maneuver.

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