end and continues for two months so as to accommodate the peak season sales during september to november comfortably said a twowheeler dealer icra expects that september 2016 would witness even higher stocking up of inventory by twowheeler dealers the report by icra says that within the twowheeler industry the tendency towards stocking up in anticipation of the festive season sales is more prevalent in the motorcycle segment as compared to the scooter segment this is because motorcycle sales tend to be more sensitive to rural demand which is a major contributor to the festive season sales the entry segment of motorcycles which accounts for the bulk of motorcycle volumes remains largely driven by rural demand and is relatively more sensitive to the festive season induced demand than the other subsegments as a result the entry and executive segments of motorcycles have reported higher stocking up during the prefestive months as compared to the other oems during the prefestive months in each of the four previous years it has been majorly hero motocorp bajaj and yamaha which have led the month on month increase in the wholesale twowheeler volumes on the other hand royal enfield which accounts for more than 97 percent of the sales volume in the premium above 250 cc motorcycle subsegment has been facing capacity constraints despite new plant and expansion thereafter and has been unable to benefit from the festive demand spikes additionally oems like tvs and honda which derive less than 50 percent of their annual sales volumes from motorcycles also reported weaker stocking up in relation to the industry during the past four festive seasons though honda has been reporting closeto the industry average growth in its motorcycle sales volumes during the prefestive months over the past three years capacity constraints for its scooter production has been limiting its overall ability to stock up its models at the dealer level which is expected to reverse during the current year on the back of additional capacities that have been added stated the icra report y s guleria senior vp sales and marketing honda said the company is focusing on increasing its presence in the rural markets currently 28 percent of our total volume comes from the rural markets earlier the ratio was 1 scooter to 9 motorcycles in rural markets but now of late with better availability of scooters the ratio has improved to 39 for the first time in 10 years honda scooters will be available off the shelf this festival season we should be able to maintain 20 percent plus growth in the festival season and through the first 10 months of 2017 overall we are seeing positive momentum already the 7th pay commission orop one rank one pension and good monsoon should contribute to a good growth the entry segment of motorcycles which accounts for the bulk of motorcycle volumes remains largely driven by rural demand and is relatively more sensitive to the festive season rural demand according to icra the rural