The battle for 2 wheeler market shares has crossed global boundaries from Africa to European counterparts which gives better sales margin. Indian 2 wheeler exports have turned out to be positive and many other countries started using bikes from Indian manufactures. Countries like Southeast-Asia , Africa, Europe, Vietnam, Latin America and Bangladesh are successfully adapting bikes manufactured from India.
Many Chinese companies were already dominating the African and European markets but due to India’s two iconic brand Bajaj and TVS exports sales are dominating the market which caused more than 160 Chinese companies to exit from Africa. Lets us, look how these two Indian brand alone captured the whole African market and what were the strategies that made them successful globally.
Bajaj TVS Killed Chinese Companies In Africa
1. Rise Of Indian Brands
Bajaj Auto which becomes an early mover in African markets. Ever since it was launched the Chinese two wheeler was badly thrown out from the African market. Bajaj listed at the top 2 bike sellers in more than a dozen African markets.
Countries like Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania have seen significant migration towards Indian 2-wheeler brands. The spontaneous growth is in Kenya, where the government has extended tax waivers to both the imports of motorcycles and to local assembly plants.
2. TVS & Bajaj Major Players
Most reliable bike brands in India are now helping India increase its inroads into African continent. According to latest numbers, only two Indian companies have been able to move out 160 Chinese motorbike companies from Africa. In terms of market share, just Bajaj and TVS have captured African market as 40 Chinese companies combined have done.
The sale of TVS bikes in Africa has also witnessed a remarkable upsurge. The increased penetration in countries like Guinea, Kenya, and Nigeria among other had made TVS the most successful Indian brand in 2 wheeler market sector in Africa after Bajaj. Both the companies in fact sell their bikes on hybrid dealership. A fixed percentage of bikes are directly imported by India, while rest of the demand is met by local assembly plants as well.
3. Existence Of Chinese Brand
Africa is still not a healthy place to live by modern standards. The poverty rate is amongst the highest in the world. Most modern efforts have fallen flat. Even today, the distance between hospitals and people is a reason for concern. The primary reason is that the infrastructure is bad.
Indian companies started to take-over the vacated space. Indian bikes cost less compared to Chinese brands but their quality is on equal with Japanese bikes. It provided a viable opportunity to African customers. They could now buy bikes at much lower costs. Indian bikes were exactly what Africans needed. Bajaj and TVS came and provided people with affordable, easy to purchase and low maintenance bikes.
4. Quest To Buy Boxer
Bajaj boxer turned out to be the biggest rival to the Chinese 2 wheeler brand. It has 10 assembly facilities assisted by more than a dozen distributors in the whole continent. It sells twice the amount of bikes sold by its nearest competitor. Boxer’s light weight, smooth pickup over on road and off road have made King of African roads.
In Africa, most people buys bikes for commercial use than personal. The bikes in Africa are known as Boda Boda. They are used for transporting people and goods from one place to another (just like Rapido, Uber and Ola auto bike taxi services in India). The penetration of roads is so bad that sometimes, the owners of these Boda-Boda also convert their bikes into Ambulances.
4. Hero, Another Indian Brand Emerges As Winner
Hero MotoCorp’s market-specific product strategy, the Dawn 125 motorcycle has been developed specifically for the Africa region and focuses on utility requirements of customers like strength, durability and fuel efficiency.
