Hero MotoCorp Ltd. has finally reported a monthly sales growth in March, four months after the government's demonetisation drive in November last year. The automaker's sales grew 0.5 percent to 6.09 lakh units in March 2017 compared to a year ago, a stock exchange filing said.
The two-wheeler manufacturer has also recorded its highest ever annual sales in the last financial year growing 0.4 percent for the full financial year, according to the filing.
The cash crunch did hit the country's largest two-wheeler manufacturer hard though as a sharp drop in monthly sales, from November to February impacted the annual sales figure, before returning back into the positive territory in March.
The company has been producing Bharat Stage-IV emission norm compliant vehicles since March 1, 2017, it said in an earlier stock exchange filing.
It tried to minimise the losses from the transition to new norms by liquidating "almost all" of its BS-III compliant inventory by offering discounts and other incentives at dealerships.
The Supreme Court on March 29 barred sale of vehicles compliant with BS-III emission norms beyond March 31, in a blow to dealers and automakers who were saddled with an inventory of nearly eight lakh such two-wheelers, trucks and cars at the time the order was passed.
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