The year-on-year picture was markedly different. Overall registrations were 17 per cent above the 14.33 lakh recorded in August 2025, meaning the industry sold about 2.44 lakh more two-wheelers than a year earlier.
| Photo Credit:
AMIT DAVE
India’s two-wheeler market lost 1.53 lakh registrations in August compared to the previous month as pre-festival purchase deferrals and monsoon conditions weighed on dealership traffic. Hero MotoCorp, Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor bore most of the decline, although overall registrations remained 17 per cent higher than a year earlier.
Overall registrations fell 8.3 per cent to 16.77 lakh in August from 18.30 lakh in July. ICE retails declined 7.7 per cent to 14.99 lakh from 16.24 lakh, while electric two-wheelers fell a sharper 13.4 per cent to 1.78 lakh from 2.06 lakh units.
The year-on-year picture was markedly different. Overall registrations were 17 per cent above the 14.33 lakh recorded in August 2025, meaning the industry sold about 2.44 lakh more two-wheelers than a year earlier. ICE retails grew 13.3 per cent, while electric two-wheelers surged 62.4 per cent.
”The sequential cooling was in line with expectations,” said Hemal Thakkar, Senior Practice Leader and Senior Director at Crisil Intelligence. The ratings agency had earlier projected that August two-wheeler retails will decline about 8-9 per cent from July while growing 16-18 per cent year on year. It had also projected that ICE registrations would be up 12-14 per cent y-o-y but down 7-8 per cent sequentially.
Actual ICE retails of 14.99 lakh landed almost exactly within those ranges.
What’s hurting
The divergence points to a pre-festive pause rather than a broad deterioration in demand. August precedes the Onam, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and Diwali buying period, when some consumers defer purchases for festival or auspicious dates.
Vinkesh Gulati, former Chairman of FADA, and current Chairman of Automotive Skills Development Council, said such purchase deferrals can temporarily depress registrations.
Monsoon conditions added another drag, particularly in rural and semi-urban markets.
Sachin Mahajan, chairman of FADA Maharashtra and CEO and Managing Partner at Mahavir Auto, a two-wheeler dealership for Jawa and Yezdi motorcycles in Nashik, said: “Monsoon conditions and agricultural activity affected showroom traffic, with demand expected to improve as rains recede and festival buying gathers pace”.
The biggest casualties
Hero suffered the biggest absolute loss, shedding nearly 41,600 registrations as retails fell 9.4 per cent from July to about 4.01 lakh. Despite the sequential decline, registrations remained 14.7 per cent higher than in August last year.
Honda lost roughly 33,700 registrations as retails declined 7.1 per cent to 4.39 lakh, but remained India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer. Its registrations were 17.6 per cent higher year on year.
Bajaj lost about 28,100 registrations as retails plunged 15.5 per cent to 1.53 lakh, the steepest sequential percentage fall among major manufacturers. Yet, registrations remained 12.5 per cent above than a year earlier.
TVS and Royal Enfield also saw a sequential dip in registration by 7.4 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively. But year-on-year registrations for the two players grew 23.3 per cent and 21.4 per cent, respectively. In fact, TVS saw the strongest year-on-year growth among the four largest manufacturers.
Suzuki slipped just 0.4 per cent from July and was 7.2 per cent higher year on year, while Yamaha fell 10.3 per cent sequentially but remained 10.8 per cent above last year.
Electric two-wheelers lost about 27,560 registrations sequentially but remained 62.4 per cent above August 2025.
The contrasting sequential and year-on-year trends leave September and October as the next test for the market, when deferred purchases are expected to return to showrooms as monsoon-related disruption recedes and India enters its biggest vehicle-buying season.
Published on September 2, 2026
