Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Eicher Motors Ltd Q2 FY26 conference call. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Mukesh Saraf from Avendus Spark. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Yeah, thank you, Ashok. Good evening, everyone. Mukesh Saraf here from Avendus Spark. Appreciate everybody logging into this Q2 FY 2026 earnings call of Eicher Motors. From the management team, I'm pleased to host Mr. Vinod Aggarwal, Vice Chairman, Eicher Motors Limited, MD and CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles Limited. Mr. B. Govindarajan, MD, Eicher Motors Limited, and CEO, Royal Enfield. This is Vidhya Srinivasan, CFO, Eicher Motors Limited. I'll now hand over the call to Mr. B. Govindarajan for his opening remarks, post which we'll begin the Q&A. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Mukesh. Hello and good evening, everyone. I hope you all had a joyful and refreshing festive season. It's wonderful to have all of you join us today for the Eicher Motors Limited earnings call for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. We have had a very busy and exciting few months with the new launches and some truly proud milestones. We continued the growth momentum forward in the second quarter with a solid performance. The festive season has been particularly very encouraging for us, driven by robust demand, record bookings, and a sustained consumer confidence, and a clear reflection of the brand strength and the market trust we have built over the period of time. Before we move on to the detailed business updates for Royal Enfield and VECV, I'll begin with a broad summary of the overall financials.
Coming to the EML consolidated financials for the second quarter of financial year 2025 2026, revenue, EML clocked its best-ever revenue at INR 6,172 crore, marking a growth of 45% over INR 4,263 crore from Q2 of last year. On EBITDA, highest-ever EBITDA for the quarter at INR 1,512 crore versus INR 1,088 crore in Q2 last year, marking a growth of 39%. That has been the highest-ever at INR 1,369 crore, which includes INR 135 crore of EML share of profits from VECV, which is up 24.5% from INR 1,100 crore, which included about INR 114 crore EML share of profit in Q2 last year. The strong performance is a result of an all-around growth across both for Royal Enfield and VECV. I'll first begin with the business highlights for Royal Enfield. This quarter at Royal Enfield was marked by a lot of product actions and refreshes that strengthened our lineup.
To make sure that our customers take home their favorite Royal Enfield motorcycle this festive season, we had put in considerable effort building a strong foundation. Legwork laid in Q1, we launched three product refreshes, an expansive dealer network of more than 2,000 stores which are in operation, maximized our production capacity during this quarter. The GST reforms by the Government of India have made motorcycles under 350 cc more accessible, and the customer response is a clear testament to this during this window. During this quarter, we launched a refreshed Meteor 350 in India, which is now available in four variants and seven stunning colorways. We also added some fresh energy to our lineup with a new graphite gray Hunter 350 and a shadow ash Guerrilla 450.
This festive season was a truly outstanding one for Royal Enfield, and with over about 2.49 lakh motorcycles we sold during these festive months of September and October, at this festive performance, we have achieved a milestone that speaks volumes about our momentum and the unwavering love riders have for the brand. From refreshed favorites like Hunter 350 and Meteor 350 to timeless icons like Bullet and Classic, our motorcycles continue to inspire and bring riders closer to the joy of motorcycling. During this quarter, we sold 327,067 motorcycles as against 225,317 in Q2 FY25. Out of this, in India alone, we sold 292,703 units. We continued to gain market share across both, particularly in the mid-size motorcycle segment, where Royal Enfield has been able to continue its dominance at about 84% market share.
Our focus strategy, combined with a strong product portfolio, marketing activations have helped us deepen our presence in this market during this window. In our international markets, our volume stood at 54,364 units during this quarter. We continue to maintain a strong growth momentum in retail volumes across international markets like Brazil, Nepal, and Bangladesh. We maintained the leadership in SARC markets, ranked number two in mid-size in the U.K., number two in Argentina, Thailand, and Korea, and number three in Brazil, Australia, and number four in the EU. This year at EICMA, we marked a significant milestone in Royal Enfield's legacy as we entered our 125th year of pure motorcycling, showcasing a glimpse of our vision and journey that beautifully represents the past, present, and future.
We showcased some of our most exciting motorcycles here, the special edition of Classic 650, the bigger and bolder Bullet 650, the Himalayan 450 Monoblock, and the Flying Flea S6, one of the lightest and the most advanced scramblers in the EV world. On the customer front, we also showcased the Shotgun and Rough Crafts, a limited edition collaboration that celebrates the spirit of custom building, something that's always been very dear to Royal Enfield. The response from the global motorcycling community has been truly, truly overwhelming, and it's been wonderful to see how our blend of heritage and innovation continues to strike a chord with our riders everywhere. A new off-road collection, a purpose-built range of premium riding gear designed for off-road and trail motorcycling, has been unveiled.
We launched a Get-In Streets, a collection that blends Royal Enfield's iconic legacy with contemporary everyday wear, inspired by travel exploration and the spirit of motorcycling culture in our lifestyle and apparel space. During this quarter, our Flying Flea, the city-plus mobility brand endorsed by Royal Enfield, won the Red Dot Award 2025 in the Design Concept category for the Flying Flea C6. It's a proud moment that underscores our growing strength in design and future-ready mobility. In the recently announced results of the Dealer Satisfaction Survey 2025, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Association, called us FADA, Royal Enfield has been ranked number one in the two-wheeler OEM category. We continued our course to create memorable riding experience for our community. We concluded the 14th edition of One Ride 2025, our Marquee Global Ride. It was truly an incredible experience.
Over 50,000 riders came together in more than 65 countries. We announced the return of Motoverse 2025, our annual celebration of motorcycling culture in Goa, scheduled from November 21st to 23rd, 2025. This year's edition promises to be bigger and better. We invite all of you to join with us in Goa. Our commitment to responsible growth has always been rooted in strong governance, transparency, and ethical leadership. As a testament to this, I'm proud to share that Eicher Motors has won the Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2025. This recognition reflects the culture of integrity and accountability we uphold across the organization. We also won two awards at Manufacturing Today for Excellence in Supply Chain and Excellence in Sustainability and Circular Economy. Currently, 98% of the energy used at plants has been from renewable sources.
These are all the updates from Royal Enfield. Now I will hand it over to Mr. Vinod Aggarwal to talk you through the updates for VE Commercial Vehicles. Over to you, Vinod.
Thank you very much, Govind. I'm very happy to share that at VECV, we recorded our highest-ever second quarter sales of 21,901 units, exceeding our previous record of 20,774 units in Q2 of financial year 2025, with a growth of 5.1%. With this, our first-half sales are now 43,511, against earlier year's first half of 40,476, and we have achieved a growth of 7.5% in the first half. Our revenues from operations on standalone basis stood at INR 6,105.8 crore versus INR 5,538 crore. Our revenues for first half are INR 11,777 crore, against INR 10,608 crore in the first half of the previous year, with a growth of 11% in the top line. We remain sharply focused on long-term value creation through product excellence, global ambition, and deep customer engagement.
During the quarter, we launched Eicher Pro Plus light and medium-duty range with air-conditioned cabins and upgrades to load more carrying capacity that addresses both driver environment and operator economy, a win-win for both drivers and operators. We also signed MoU with large charge point operators like Jio-bp pulse and Tata Power to provide Eicher Trucks and Buses. Customers access to 6,000+ public chargers, easing customer anxiety on range and access to charging infrastructure. Digital and services grew very well, with My Eicher now sporting 162,000 customers with 375,000 vehicles, while VE Connected Solutions progressed on solutions for customers with mixed fleets. I'm happy to note that we are having steady development across our businesses, with VECV recording several best-ever second quarter milestones.
We are now number one in position in light and medium-duty trucks, with sales of 10,096 units in Q2 and a market share of 34.8% in this segment. With this, our first-half deliveries stand at 18,706 in light and medium-duty trucks versus 17,407 units during H1 of last year. Our heavy-duty truck volumes grew 3.5% in Q2 in the same quarter of the previous year. Our market share in this segment in Q2 stood at 10.5%, and our deliveries now stand for the first half at 9,961 units versus 9,844 units for the previous period in the financial year 2025. We made sales of 3,217 units in our bus division, and with this, our first-half sales are 9,222 units, with a growth of 1.9% against 9,053 units in the first half of 2025.
In our parts business, both Eicher and Volvo combined, we recorded a robust growth of 11.8% over the previous quarter. Sales of Eicher Pro X electric truck continued to gain traction. Even though the overall electric vehicle market has continued to be very small, it is just 1.5% of the 2 ton-3.5 ton market. Within that, we have delivered 244 units in Q2 and 436 units in H1. In some of the months, our market share in this small market has been 24%. Eicher Truck and Buses exported 1,823 units in Q2, up 61.3% over Q2 of the previous year. Despite political disruptions in the Southeast Asian markets, by TD Exports stand at 3,259 units against 2,322 units in H1 of the previous year. While the market continues to remain highly competitive, VECV improved both our PAT as well as EBITDA margins for Q2.
Our EBITDA stands at INR 479 crore at 8% against INR 395 crore at 7.3%. Our PAT stands at INR 249 crore at 4.2% against INR 208 crore in the previous first half at 3.8%. On by TD basis, our EBITDA in H1 was INR 989.4 crore at 8.6% versus INR 780.4 crore at 7.5% in the previous year. Of course, on October 8, VECV announced an investment of INR 544 crore for the production and final assembly of Volvo Group's globally state-of-the-art 12-speed automated manual transmission. This greenfield factory will be established at Vikram Udyogpuri Integrated Industrial Township near the historic city of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. The investment in automated manual transmission production is yet another milestone in the 17-year-plus successful VECV joint venture with Volvo Group and Eicher Motors.
As the global manufacturing hub for Volvo Group's 5 and 8-liter medium-duty engines since 2013, VECV Pithampur factory has been a pioneer in making in India for the world. Now, this will be the second similar initiative in making in India for the world for the automotive manual transmission because most of this production will be exported to Asia and Oceania requirements of Volvo Group. India's economy has remained resilient, supported by strong fundamentals and policy support, CapEx in roads and infrastructure, and make-in-India incentives supported manufacturing and demand for freight movement, with inflation contained at 4% and financing conditions stable. The GST rate rationalization, EV demand held firm through the extended monsoon period, and is poised to improve further in H2 as project executions pick up. As we all know, the industry has done very well in two-wheelers and passenger cars.
Now, the consequent positive impact comes on the commercial vehicles because as we have to move more goods and services, we need more trucks. Therefore, we are in a very good position, you can say, for the second half of the commercial vehicle industry as well as for us. Of course, we are looking forward to a good year. Thank you all for being with us on this call, and we can now move to question and answers.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchstone phone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. We will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. The first question comes from the line of Chandramouli from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening, and thank you for taking my questions. My first question is just on the Classic and the Bullet, especially post the GST cuts. We continue to see pretty good volume growth on both those key models. We've been off a pretty high base when you refreshed both those products at this time last year. I just want to understand on some of these core products, the Classic, the Bullet, the Hunter, the Meteor, if you're able to give us some sense of what the potential benefits in demand you're seeing, just exclusively from the GST cuts alone.
Chandramouli, first is the Classic 350 has actually grown very well during this time because we kickstarted the campaign on the Classic. That has really worked well. People really liked it. That is one on the Classic. If I have to tell you what's the kind of a growth, I think we grew almost about 24.5% compared to last year during this quarter in the Classic 350. The next Meteor, which you asked about, the Meteor 350, we came out with new colorways, and we launched it during this September month. Once again, that also has shown us a very good growth. If I'm right, I think we have grown almost about some 30% there. Hunter, we launched one more color during this festive time. We also done the Hunter Hood as a platform for all the young audience to come together and then celebrate the Hunter Hood.
Hunter has grown almost about 41% over the last year. All the products which were on focus during this quarter have really, really grown very well. Bullet 350, the Italian Black, which has really, really grown, I think, almost about 70% during this quarter.
All right, that's helpful. Second question is just around the second half. I think some of your peers have indicated the motorcycle industry in India should grow around that 8% run rate in the back half of this year. I think Royal Enfield, in the first half, domestic market growth has been higher than that run rate. Just want to understand how you're planning for and thinking about the second half and how you're thinking about premium motorcycling growth in relation to that sort of high single-digit growth run rate potentially for the rest of the industry.
In terms of %, we don't give the forward guidance, you know, Chandramouli, but I can tell you, post the GST, the demand and the inquiry and the demand is holding up really very well for us. Even October had been very good. As I mentioned, all the product interventions, inventory build-up, everything has worked. Currently, even in the month of November, I'm seeing the run rates are very good. We are bullish that our growth rate continues.
All right. Just lastly, in terms of sand inventory and production run rates, if I just look at your first-half wholesale growth in the domestic market, you've grown about 27% versus retail, at least on Vine, seems to be close to 24%. In the month of October, it seems to be retail has grown closer to 50%, but wholesale only 15%. Are you thinking about sort of talking up the channel? What is the current sand inventory you have? Are there any near-term risks of potential stock out? Just given retail, so far, this third quarter seems to have grown much faster than wholesale.
Yes. Normally, as you all know, during the festive season, the inventory build takes place, and the retail will be higher than the wholesale numbers. That is what the season, which has been really, really good during this window of 31 days festive compared to last year, we actually grew by almost 50%. The growth has been very good. Retail has been holding up very well. We do not build inventory, you all know. We would like to actually have a correct inventory, and we have a replenishment model back in the system. That will actually help us to get the velocity in that. Production at the back end is also churning out good numbers. Once again, you will see some amount of inventory fill-up, which has to take place, which will happen through the wholesale.
There's nothing which is alarming to be saying that there is a gross mismatch, Chandramouli.
Got it. Got it. Thank you very much, and all the best.
Thank you.
Thank you. In order to ensure that management is enabled to take questions from all the participants, participants are requested to restrict their questions to two per participant. The next question comes from the line of Binay Singh from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi team. Thanks for the opportunity. In your opening remarks, you talked about maximizing capacity. Could you share your thoughts on what are you thinking on capacity addition incrementally because you're running almost at full capacity?
Yes. In the beginning of the year, also we said we have our Teraford Manufacturing facilities at Oragadam and Walajabad, and we have a Cheyyar plant, which is about 60 acres, which is supporting these plants with the plating facility. That is the lay. We said about 1.2 million is the capacity after built capacity. Now it is peaking, and it is delivering very well. We also did the bottlenecking operations during this quarter for festive inventory build-up. We have ramped up the capacity to almost about 1.3 million-1.35 million motorcycles. Looking at the demand, looking at the inquiry and the interest, what we have done is in between, we also kickstarted additional module capacity, which will also start kicking in from the first quarter of coming year. We go in modules, and the next module is also kickstarted.
Because we have space in Cheyyar, we do not anticipate any major issues.
Right, right. The second question is on the margin side. While we've seen, if you see revenues have grown by around 45%, but the EBITDA growth is around 39% because the operating expenses have risen quite sharply. Do you see any scope to reduce marketing or financing or other interventions to sort of have a margin expansion? How would you see that?
Once again, if I have to tell you, maybe I'm repeating the percentage, please don't see that because that is not what we are driving and aligning the organization. We are looking at an absolute profit, and that's the focus. We want to continue to grow. Growth has to come in from absolute profitability, not on the percentage . As long as marketing expenses, which we are talking about, in fact, this year, the integrated planning, which was done by our marketing team, has really helped us to get a good efficiency out of it. You will continue to see our market activations, brand-building activities, and launches expenses that will continue, including expenses like community building like Motoverse, Hunter Hood, our drag races of Guerrilla, and Classic campaign that will all continue. There will be expenses which will be there in the marketing area.
Okay, team. Thanks. I'll come back in the queue. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Amyn Pirani from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Actually, my first question is also on the profitability. It looks like this quarter there has been a big gap in the movement in consolidated and standalone. It looks like your subsidiaries may have turned close to INR 40 crore EBITDA profit, which is generally a negative number. Just wanted to understand if something is happening there. Are some of the subsidiaries turning profitable? Is some of this to do with Brazil where you've been ramping up? Some color there would be helpful.
Yeah. I mean, to some extent, there is a bit of a mix change which is happening between Q1 and Q2. Typically, the way it works out for us is Q1 and Q4, we are ramping up and we are exporting to essentially the developed markets. In Q2, Q3, it's largely around CKD and things like that. I wouldn't say that there is any big jump-up which takes place between subsidiaries, and there's no major dramatic development. It's essentially the timing and it's the mix of markets, etc., which is showing it. Yeah? Yes. Okay.
Nothing that there'll be more sale happening in the subsidiaries because typically we take a reversal of profits from India.
I mean, as Vidhya is mentioning, all our subsidiaries in the last one and a half years, what we have been doing is we have been trying to stabilize all the subsidiary markets. We have been investing into this. The CKDs are ramping up. There is an efficiency which is coming in. This is also flowing into the subsidiary profitabilities. You will see it over the period of time and the volume goes up further.
Okay. Okay. That's helpful. Secondly, on VECV, first of all, thank you for giving the detailed financials this time in the PPT. I think that will be very helpful for us going forward. Just on VECV, wanted to get a sense as to how is the volume outlook looking. You did mention some improvement, but we've seen in the industry that while margins have improved for almost all the players, the volume growth has been sideways, just in low single digits. As we look into the next two to three quarters, are there any specific areas where we could see signs of volume recovery? How should we think about margins going forward after the improvement that we've seen in one edge?
As you rightly said, the volumes have been a little bit lower than the expectations in the first half. However, I think that was also due to the extended monsoon period. Of course, infrastructure investments are happening very well. As I mentioned in my address, you will see the lag impact of the GST rates rationalization because definitely it has improved the consumption levels and Indian economy driven by domestic consumption. Therefore, we will see a good impact on the economy. Interest rates are also doing very well. Inflation is down. Replacements are strong. Therefore, there is no reason why the volume should not pick up. At the same time, we should also note that in the heavy-duty trucks, more and more migration keeps on happening to high-tunnel trucks. That also reflects our numbers.
The second thing which pulls down the numbers is the productivity levels. If you look at the current running of trucks, if earlier the trucks were running only, say, 10,000 km-12,000 km, currently the trucks are running 20,000 km-25,000 km in some of the applications. Therefore, with the extended running, of course, the numbers come down. At the same time, these trucks will need to be replaced more often because if you are running every year 300,000 km, then maybe the replacement period will come down. That will reflect in the future demand. The third thing which has pulled down some of the heavy-duty trucks demand is also some migration towards the rail freight corridors. For example, Maruti is now moving almost 25% of its cars through rail. There is some impact coming of that.
But in spite of that, we have 0.2% growth in first half, in fact, by TDA2 for the heavy-duty trucks. Therefore, we will not see very large growth numbers in heavy-duty trucks. Of course, my feel is that second half will be much better than the first half. As it is, second half is around 55% of the total year. Therefore, we will see better growth rates in second half. If you look at light and medium-duty trucks, the growth has been good. Growth has been 9% in light and medium-duty trucks. Exports have grown by 40% in first half. Buses are growing by 7%-8%. Small commercial vehicles have grown by around 6%-7%. Other than the heavy-duty trucks, all other segments are growing. I'm very positive that overall, we will see good growth in the second half.
Thank you, sir. Thank you for the detailed response. I'll come back in the queue. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good evening, sir. Just firstly, on the GST changes, wanted to understand from a consumer behavior point of view, any changes you have noticed in either rural or urban growth, if you could give those numbers. Also, for the more than 350 cc portfolio, is there any impact on demand that you have noticed, or the impact is not much despite the GST going up?
Yeah. I think it's a fantastic move by the government. It has really, really propelled the entire inquiry in the market. Market was buying post the GST reduction. For us, when the announcement came in, there was a very good pre-buy took place in the 450 and 650 cc. Now, with the reduction to 18%, 350 cc motorcycles are really, really doing well. STU plus GST and all our actions, it has helped us to get the inquiries. As far as our 450 cc and 650 cc products, and of course, the rate of recovery we are just seeing in our 650 cc is better, and 450 cc is slowly inching up. It's a matter of time. We can't take any decisions immediately. We may have to wait for some time.
The cognizance of what is happening and what actions to be done, nothing will be short-term. It will be only long-term activities. We have also appealed to the authorities, even for our 450 cc and 650 cc, whether that can also be brought down to 18% so that there is a uniform tax rate, which will really help because in India, if we lower these two products, I mean, if we lower the GST rate of more than 350 cc, there is a good chance of higher volume, and thereby we'll get a scale. Even in the international market, it is a true story for a make in India. We have been appealing to the government. We will continue to engage with the agencies for lowering the GST rate.
Actually, if I had to tell you, 450 cc and 650 cc is bouncing back in terms of the volume. Of this, 650cc is better, and 450 cc, it's a bit slower in bouncing back.
Sure, sir. On the rural and urban growth, anything?
It's, I think it has been growing across, to be honest, Kapil. During the festive time, rural had been slightly higher than the urban. Once again, we have to wait for some more time. For us, one good thing which has happened during this time is South has not been doing very well for us. Now South also has picked up. We have seen a very good growth. East has done really, really well for us during this time. That's at a regional level. Rural, also, the retail growth has been very good during this period.
Okay. That's great to hear. Sir, one question was on the raw material cost-to-sales ratio. We've seen an increase. If you could just help us understand, is this just reflecting the mix, or was there some commodity cost pressure as well for the quarter? Anything further that you are expecting on the cost side because we've seen some impact in precious metals, for example?
Yeah. I think overall, from a margin standpoint and from a commodity standpoint, we're expecting about 40 basis points. I mean, we have had a 40 basis point impact as far as commodity prices, mainly led by both precious metals and aluminum alloys and all that. Overall, I think it's been offset. We've also had a bit of price increase, which has also given us a positive impact of about 50 basis points. The rest is really a product price mix kind of a thing that comes in.
Kapil, there is inflation pressure. There is a headwind. We are looking at even the precious metal, how do we mitigate it? How do we speed up the value engineering activities? As Vidhya mentioned on the model mix, all the levers have to be used because of the inflation pressure. That is the current scenario now.
Okay. Thank you, sir. That's all.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Gunjan Prithyani from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks for taking my questions. Firstly, on this new module capacity that you said will sort of kick in from Q1, what sort of debottlenecking or expansion are we looking at? Also, the comments on the post-GST customer demand seeing a boost, is there a little bit more color that you can share as to what sort of new set of customers are coming into the showrooms? I'm just trying to gauge if there are these first-time buyers or are these people who were sensitive and with GST, the conversion has just happened much quicker. A little bit more thoughts on the customer buying behavior post-GST change?
First, I'll address the second question, Gunjan. In terms of the customer demographic card, first-time, repeat, I think we were all very busy in fulfilling the big demand which came up during the festive time. We were having a board meeting, so we were all, I think, not having enough bandwidth to do the analysis. Anyway, the team is doing. We will go through that. We will come back maybe after the fortnight time window. I must tell you, our walk-in conversion has gone up. Our tele conversion has gone up. Our online conversions have gone up. It would be, we normally say, inquiry to the booking conversion has actually seen a 10 percentage point growth during this point of time. It used to be almost about 20%-21%. It has gone almost about 29%-30%. The efficiency also has been very good.
To tell you about the whole analysis, we need some more time. Number also is holding up. We will do it in another fortnight time. The second one which you asked about the capacity, as we mentioned, we had a capacity of about 1.2 million with a particular mix of our 350 cc, 450 cc, and 650 cc Now, what is happening is post-GST, the 350 cc demand is slightly higher than the 450 and 650. As I mentioned, 650 is catching up faster than the 450. The demand of 350 is higher than what we were looking at. The debottlenecking which we were talking about is how do we do some operations where the 350 cc can be produced in the lines. That is what is the focus which we did as an interim.
Thereby, we have increased the capacity, and we have added some machineries and equipment and all. Looking at the current scenario of the growth, about two months back, we also kickstarted another one module investment, which I said, which will kick in from the first quarter because we have to be prepared for the next festive demand inventory build-up. Normally, what happens nowadays is the plant will run at a particular efficiency during H1 and at a particular efficiency during H2. Now, we may have to do work depending upon the inventory. We may have to run the plant continuously to build some inventory till the new capacity kicks in so that next year growth also is taken care.
How much will this module add, which you just referred to in terms of capacity? Does 1.35 go up? That's what I'm trying to get at.
It will go up. Yes, Gunjan, it is being looked at. It should be higher than INR 135,000.
Okay. Sorry, INR 1.35 million per annum, or we are referring to monthly number?
Sorry, sorry. It is 1.35 million.
Okay. Got it. That's clear. The second question that I had was on the exports business. How should we now think of growth here? There was a period where we were sort of managing the retail, wholesales, trying to keep the gap to the minimum. That sort of exercise of inventory cleanup, to me, seems like it's behind. How do we think about the demand growth on the export side? Any market color, if you can give.
Our international volume for this year will be this in H1. We have grown almost about 49% compared to last year, which is about 78,548 motorcycles. The retail is higher than the wholesale, once again, and it's holding up. Brazil is a country where, once again, it is really showing it's a big market outside India for us. Our CKD facilities are in operation. We are also looking at establishing our own. The growth rate is very good. Our products are getting accepted very well, both in Argentina, Latin America, and Argentina and Colombia also, it is doing very well. U.S.A. tariff situations, we are waiting and watching. Europe's retail is holding. It is catching up now. APAC market is yet to bounce back. APAC is going slow only. Still, Thailand is not fully, fully sorted in a way as a country.
SARC has been doing outstandingly well for us. During this H1, if I have to tell you where are we in terms of market share, we have moved to number one position in SARC, Bangladesh, and Nepal, both the countries. We just entered into this market effectively in the last one year. We retained our position in the U.K., Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand at number two. We retained our position at number three in Australia, Italy, and France also. In the E.U. Germany, we are in about fourth, fifth position. Now in Germany, we are taking our own subsidiary, which is going to come in full-blown operations. Exports, if I have to tell you in one liner, it's in the recovery path. It's in the growth and recovery path.
Okay. Got it. Thank you so much. I'll join back. Thank you.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Pramod Kumar from UBS Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thanks a lot for the opportunity. And Govinda, just wanted to continue on the demand trend. If you can just help us understand with the GST cut, what's the kind of customer profile walking in? Have you seen customers who are inquired earlier who are not converting, coming in and finally making the purchase? Or have you seen a fresh wave of customers coming in, fresh walk-ins or first-time walk-ins into Royal Enfield dealership? Just trying to understand how much of this is upgrade demand, which is coming in from customers after the GST cut, and how much of this was kind of a pent-up one, given that you always share that your, what do you say, mind share of a consumer is much, much more higher than where your motorcycle market share is.
So just trying to understand what is the kind of qualitative differences you have seen after the GST cut. And also, I don't know if you kind of get this number, where exactly is the channel inventory except transit? The latest data, whatever you can share.
So first is Pramod about the inquiry and the booking. If I have to tell you, not that pre-festive, we're having a host of booking, and we were waiting for delivery because our production has been very good. So our inquiry-to-booking ratio, we have been monitoring. Post-GST inquiry-to-booking, the conversion percentage has gone up. So it was better because obviously, with the reduction, some purchases were decisions were taken with the customers, and it has happened. But currently, if I have to look at, just to give you some color of what is happening to the earlier booking, to the current booking, and how it is moving, the inquiry levels are continuing. And the booking levels are continuing even in the month of November when we are talking. So the GST effect and the new products and our campaign effect is actually there.
And the good thing is, even in the rural markets, as the question is, they're also experiencing it. So the entire.
There's some background noise.
There is some background noise. Yeah. The funnel, which you're talking about, an inquiry to booking to conversion, as of now, it is very healthy. The top of the funnel inquiry is continuing. That's the sign which we are seeing that everything what we were working on as a levers, plus the GST, has really helped for 350 cc motorcycles. Above 350, both 450 cc and 650 cc, during the GST announcement before September 22nd, the pre-buy has actually been very high. We stocked it also very well because we were anticipating it. We stocked the 450 cc and 650 cc, which helped us to retail very well. That's why we could see a 50% overall retail growth for us during the festive season.
In fact, the September to October window, our 450 cc has grown to almost about 30%, and the 650 cc has grown to almost 11% compared to the previous time, primarily because of the pre-buy which has taken place. Post that, there is a slight dip. Up is 650 is getting better, and 450 is slowly recovering. It takes some time. We do not see it to be a major problem. As far as first-time buyers, the age of that, as Gunjan was also asking, just give some more time. We are doing an analysis. Probably in the next call, we will have a detailed chat on that.
Govind, the reason I'm asking that is basically there have been talks about Royal Enfield evaluating a 250 cc motorcycle. I'm just wondering, given the kind of demand lift what you're seeing and given that you're saying even after the record 50% retail growth, you're still seeing sustained momentum in November, even as the industry sees moderation otherwise. Does it mean that you probably, as a company, need to think hard on the 250 cc strategy because the GST cut makes the 350 cc more affordable? How should one think about this? You're already talking about the capacity expansion on the 350 cc side. What will be the kind of numbers we'll be looking at in terms of volume ramp-up or capacity expansion if you are to commit to a 250 cc for it?
It's like this. Our focus as a company will be in the middleweight. We always say the middleweight definition is 250 to 750 cc. Currently, we have product in 350 cc and the Sherpa platform 450 cc and the twin 650 cc. Of its 350 cc, with all the products which we have launched now, especially the Hunter, the new color which we launched, and the Guerrilla new color which we have launched, the Meteor new variants which we have launched, and the Classic campaign which we did. On top of it, the GST reduction, it all has helped us to grow further. We have been always maintaining that still there is a scope for our 350 cc products to continue to grow. The current scenario is it is growing.
The task in hand which we have now is on the 450 cc and 350 cc, where there is a higher GST rate, which has gone to almost 40%, which, as I mentioned, we are working with the agencies and the government to reduce it. That is what we are working. Continue to focus on the middle weight. Currently, the focus is on 350 cc. How do we get the capacity fulfilling the demand, which is higher? Work on backend so that the 350 cc can be more and more because that's the split which is required to be a higher number due to the GST. The current focus is only there, Pramod.
Govind, when you talk about 350 cc capacity getting reached to a higher number, that ideally should come with benefits on sourcing and scale and everything, right? Because it's the same of the existing product which you'll be able to manufacture more. Ideally, that should bring down your unit economics on that particular lineup, right? Also, any comment on potential price hikes which you can take in the medium term because we've been quite disciplined on the pricing side to make the product more affordable. With the kind of demand you're seeing and the kind of traction, should one expect that there could be some pricing action starting with next calendar year?
First is about the capacity extraction which you mentioned, Pramod. Yes, we have to use all the levers now. Though the build capacity can be higher, the model level 350 needs more. We have to do all the levers to be used, including the value engineering activity, including the productivity, including sourcing, make versus buy discussions, and some investments here and there as a low-cost automation. Everything has to play in now immediately because it's here and now. That activity is taking place. As far as price increase which is talked about, just because the demand is higher, that does not mean we should go in for a price increase because that is not what we are as an organization. There is inflation, and there are costs. We will normally review it once a quarter, and we will also be reviewing it.
In the month of April, we took a price increase in a few models, and also in a few models in July, we took a price increase as per the plan. We do not do anything at a short term. We will review the price value equation, how is the market, how is inflation, what is the potential which is there, and time to time. Quarterly, we will review with Pramod.
Thanks a lot, Mr. Balakrishnan. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The last question comes from the line of Yash Agarwal from Nirmal Bang Securities. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to know more about the online strategy that company opted by selling its two-wheeler from Flipkart. How is the response? What percentage of booking is coming from the online digital channel?
Go ahead, Vidhya.
Yeah. Basically, we have essentially started an early pilot, as it were, in a limited number of outlets during the festive season just to see how the whole price journey, discovery, traction, etc., are coming. It is still early days for us to comment, but maybe you want to add to that.
First of all, as an organization, you have to be there in omnichannel. We thought that we should also be there in the e-commerce websites. That is why we signed up with both of them. Both of them, we are working on in exclusive places because we have to understand more who are the customers, what are they looking for, what frictionless experience we can give to them, what additional benefits they will get, which normally they will not get in our stores. Those are all the learnings which we have to get. It is not that we wanted to venture in and then immediately get a huge volume. You know us. As an organization, we do not do like that. Even in international market, the storyline is what?
The storyline is we go to the country, we will open up only one store and let it be a full. Even in an e-commerce world, it is only like that that we have to learn. It is a pilot for us, not in any tearing rush that we have to make it happen always. Once we understand what it is, then we will come out with our own playbook. What was very important to see that you would have noticed is that the brand page of Royal Enfield, even in those e-commerce websites, is completely managed by Askpipe along with the e-commerce companies. The entire brand language, the way it has to be presented, the way no discount, strikethroughs, nothing should be there in the typical way which will be there on an e-commerce site.
We were very, very particular that it has to be represented in a particular way. That is why I said it is a pilot. It is not in a tearing rush. The pilot is showing some good results. We are studying a bit more. We are analyzing it to see how do we scale it, should we scale it, and where do we scale it. That is the discussion which is ongoing currently.
Thank you, sir. The second question is for VECV. What's the product roadmap in CNG, LNG, and electric CVs, and how do you expect them to contribute over the next three to five years?
If you look at CNG, we are already one of the market leaders. Our CNG trucks and buses, both are there in the light and medium-duty range. As far as electric is concerned, we have now 2 ton-3.5 tons where we started this Pro X range with the electric trucks. We also have some units sold in 5.5 tons. There, the cost of ownership basis viability is a bit of a challenge. Of course, we are working on electric models for the tippers and for the trucker trailers. Those will come in future. For electric buses, we are there in 9-meter bus. We are there in 12-meter bus. We are going to participate in the new tender, which is going to be opening shortly. As far as LNG is concerned, we are already there in LNG trucks.
We have sold, I think, good numbers in 55-ton again, tractor trailer segment. We are there in all the alternate fuels. Of course, slowly and steadily, these alternate fuels will become more popular, especially LNG is expected to become more popular. CNG is already very popular for the metro cities and distances up to 400 km-500 km. Like for example, some of the cities, the diesel sales are not allowed. Therefore, like in a city like Delhi, it's only CNG which sells. It's going to be, I think, slow and steady migration to the better fuels.
What are the key hurdles you see in the penetration going forward?
Key hurdles in the penetration?
Yeah.
For the long-haul trucks, the key hurdle is definitely the one is the charging infrastructure. The other is the long-haul trucks, when you put more weight of batteries, the payload also comes down. Therefore, in long-haul, the popular models are going to be the tipper category where the vehicles operate in the localized environment so that you can do with the lesser capacity and you can do with more charging. Then, of course, the tractor trailers from the port to warehouse movement where the movement is only 200 km. Those are some of the routes which are becoming more popular. Otherwise, the smaller trucks, of course, it will be more popular. There again, the migration has been very slow.
The other major hurdle comes from the financier side because financiers are also still not fully very open to finance these electric trucks or electric buses. For the electric buses, of course, it is the government buying largely where, of course, the government has now given the payment security mechanism based on which the banks and financiers are giving loans to the operators. I think things are evolving, and we have to have patience in this.
Thank you, sir. That's very helpful. That's all from my side.
Thank you. I now hand the conference over to the management of Eicher Motors Limited for closing comments. Over to you, sir.
Thank you very much for every one of you to attend this, and I look forward to having a chat with you soon. See you all. Cheers.
Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Eicher Motors Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines.