From grocery runs to school pickups, Indian families are choosing storage space and accessibility over speed and style
17 Sep 2025 | 18475 Views | By Glenn Noronha
After years of thoughtful money saving, Leve arrived at a TVS showroom in Andheri in Mumbai to buy a motorcycle for his brother. But, two hours later, the 23-year-old college student walked out of a Suzuki showroom after booking an Access instead.
“Looking at the Indian road conditions and ...
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After years of thoughtful money saving, Leve arrived at a TVS showroom in Andheri in Mumbai to buy a motorcycle for his brother. But, two hours later, the 23-year-old college student walked out of a Suzuki showroom after booking an Access instead.
“Looking at the Indian road conditions and practicality to carry stuff, I decided to go for a scooter. It has decent storage and is more practical,” he said.
Leve is one of the million consumers in India who ‘follow’ their brain rather than hearts when making a choice between motorcycles and scooters, driven by considerations of practicality.
Scooters, which were seen as the ‘second’ two wheeler of the household, somehow have made themselves a household necessity, with many Indian families choosing function over form.
The choices made by consumers like Leve are starting to reflect in the broad numbers.
According to SIAM (Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers) data, in the first five months of FY25, scooters grew at a rate of 5.7 percent YoY compared to -5.9 percent for motorbikes. Current data shows scooters gaining market share.
In August 2025, scooters held 38.2 percent of the combined scooter-motorcycle market, up from 36.4 percent a year earlier. While motorcycles still command the larger share at 61.8 percent, the trend lines suggest this gap will continue narrowing.
The rate is set to grow even further with scooters penetrating the overall two wheeler sales at about 40 percent by 2030, according to a research firm.
What is driving this sudden shift, and how are millions of scooters making their way into the Indian family? Let’s know from customers and numbers alike.
The reasons behind this shift become clear when talking to consumers who've made the switch. Aditya Rikame, who traded his Suzuki Gixxer for a TVS Jupiter after becoming a parent, explains his decision simply.
"Mostly what drove me towards buying a scooter instead of a bike was more of the practicality," he explains. "Once you have a kid, the practicality of the scooter becomes very important."
For Aditya, the choice was driven by daily realities that many urban families face. "If I want to just pick my kid up from school or drop him off, it's not feasible to drive a car always, right? So you need to have a two-wheeler," he says. The scooter offered something his sporty Gixxer couldn't: "ease of use, practicality. It had a lot of storage space... I can keep the helmet, I can keep my child's bag, school bag, and all of the stuff in the scooter."
This sentiment resonates beyond just parents. Football coach Pranit Vyas, speaking about his colleague Piyush's purchase decision, explains: "We are coaches and we need to at times carry equipment. We need to have some extra space with ourselves. On a bike, you cannot get that. The scooty was one big reason because of the space it provides."
The convenience factor extends to everyday activities. As Aditya puts it: "While shopping for groceries, going to convenience stores, it becomes very easy to take the luggage and everything as well."
Another factor driving scooter adoption is accessibility, which affects many Indian families. Azhar Khan, a gym trainer from Mumbai, points out a reality that affects millions: "Indians are usually short, new school bikes are all high tail. Young girls wouldn't be able to sit comfortably, then what about the old, especially older women?"
Khan's family experience illustrates this perfectly: "My mom doesn't travel with us on bike but scooty. Even scooties are high for my maternal side, females – they can't sit on bikes most of the time."
This accessibility factor is expanding the user base, making two-wheelers more inclusive.
Scooters are increasingly becoming the preferred family vehicle. Engineering student Om Jagdale explains how family dynamics influence purchase decisions: "As a teenager, you can't go against your parents. If parents support you, they get a bike. But parents obviously want scooters."
The reasoning is deeply practical, as Om explains: "Families will think that Activa will be better or scooter will be better for household work. For bringing groceries, a father can ride it, a mother can ride it."
This multi-generational usability is changing purchase patterns. The market data reflects this shift - while scooter sales in August 2024 stood at 6.06 lakh units, they have grown to 6.83 lakh units by August 2025. Meanwhile, motorcycle sales increased from 10.61 lakh units to 11.07 lakh units over the same period, showing a more modest growth trajectory.
Om captures the current sentiment perfectly: "Nowadays, scooters are mandatory – there has to be a scooter in every home."
The shift is also affecting how young Indians approach their first vehicle purchase, with the scooter vs motorbike divide reflecting a broader, generational tension. "Being a teenager, we want to buy a bike with the right CC figure. We don’t worry so much about the mileage. But in some households, the parents prefer scooters, as they think they are safer," Om observes.
A second, but important, factor is price, he points out. "You can get a decent scooter for around Rs 1 lakh, but If you go for a bike, a one will cost you around 2 lakhs."
Kranthi Bathini, an equity strategist tracking the automotive sector, sees this trend as part of a larger market evolution. "The scooter can be a unisexual kind of setting. That is the advantage – the consumer shift is towards [scooters]. The trend is for the city drivers especially, the scooter is attracting the consumers."
Bathini also notes that this shift is more pronounced in rural areas, driven by economic factors: "We can see some kind of rising in the rural areas. We had a good monsoon, so these are the factors that will drive the two-wheeler industry."
Data shows the relentless rise in the market share of scooters in recent years. For example, they accounted for only 32% of total two wheeler sales in FY20, while they account for 38% in August 2025.
The spring months of 2025 demonstrated the resilience of scooter demand. March 2025 was particularly noteworthy, with scooters recording 5.86 lakh units sold and achieving an impressive 25.7% year-over-year growth, while motorcycles faced challenges with 8.72 lakh units and a decline of 22.7%. This stark contrast highlights the shifting consumer preference toward scooters.
The summer months of 2025 showed steady performance across both categories. May 2025 recorded 5.80 lakh scooter units with 7.1% growth, while motorcycles sold 8.90 lakh units with 4.7% growth. June saw some softening with scooters at 5.34 lakh units, but July bounced back strongly with 6.43 lakh units and 16.2% year-over-year growth.
The data is even more lopsided in the electric two-wheeler market, although here, the reasons also have to do with manufacturers’ design compulsions. As of FY 2024, scooters made up roughly about 95 percent of the overall electric two-wheelers sold. Moreover, electric scooters now contribute over 11 percent of total scooter sales.
One of the factors holding back the penetration of scooters has been their relatively low glamour quotient. Many youngsters do not prefer to buy scooters, which are associated with ‘dads’ and women. However, that too is changing slowly with the emergence of sporty scooters and premium (maxi) scooters
One of the first movers in this market was the Italian brand Aprilia, which came out with its SR 150 scooter in 2016.
However, this segment has been seeing more action in recent times. Piaggio with its Vespa line of scooters rolled out the Vespa 150 VXL and SXL, while Aprilia replaced its SR 150 with the SR 160. In 2023, Yamaha came out with the Aerox 155, its first Maxi scooter offering. While in 2025, mainstream scooter brands like Hero came out with the Xoom 160 and TVS came out with the NTORQ 150.
“If these scooters had come in my time, two years back, I would have bought them. You get the sporty look that you want, and the family thinks it's still a scooter,” points out Om.
Bathini too agrees that the emergence of premium models will help widen the appeal of scooters. "We are now seeing premium scooters coming into the market – this will widen the gap. These are new launches, we need to see the momentum pick up."
Looking at the absolute numbers, the gap between motorcycle and scooter sales has been narrowing consistently. In August 2025, the difference was 4.23 lakh units (11.07 lakh motorcycles vs 6.83 lakh scooters), compared to a gap of 4.55 lakh units in August 2024.
Aditya Rikame, reflecting on broader market trends, believes this shift will continue: "In my age group, 30 to 40, people would be more inclined to a scooter because it's not only about kids, but commuting, parking and everything is very easy with the scooter."
Industry projections support this momentum. Research firm Kearney predicts scooter penetration could reach 40 percent by 2030, driven by "shifting urban preferences and rising female workforce."
For manufacturers, this shift represents both opportunity and challenge. Traditional motorcycle-focused companies are rapidly expanding their scooter portfolios, while scooter specialists are pushing into premium segments previously dominated by bikes.
As Pranit notes about his colleague's experience: "The Indian market is all about convenience. Convenience and efficiency. I don't think he regrets that decision."
The scooter trend reflects changing lifestyles, family needs, and urban mobility requirements. From young buyers navigating family expectations to parents prioritizing practicality, the shift toward scooters appears to be driven by concrete benefits rather than just changing preferences.
Based on current growth rates and the consistent month-over-month performance data, this trend is likely to continue as manufacturers respond to consumer demand for practical, accessible transportation solutions.