The TVS Raider 125 has achieved the million-unit wholesales milestone in the Indian market. Launched on September 16, 2021, the Raider 125 has taken exactly 36 months or three years from launch to sell a total of 10,07,514 units, as per the latest wholesales data from industry body SIAM.
Today (October 24, 2024), TVS launched a new variant of the Raider 125 called the Raider iGO. Priced at Rs 98,389 (ex-showroom, Delhi), the Raider iGO gets a boost feature, just like the new Jupiter 110 does, which gives the rider an additional 0.55Nm of torque, claims TVS.
The Raider always came equipped with an Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) and TVS has now leveraged that system to give the motorcycle a little more pep. With the ‘boost’ engaged, TVS claims you get an extra 0.55Nm of torque. Expect this system to work in a similar manner as the new Jupiter 110, where it can provide the extra torque twice in one minute.
To differentiate the Raider iGO from the standard model, TVS has given the iGO a unique Nardo Grey colour matched with red wheels. The iGO variant costs Rs 680 more than the split seat variant of the Raider. With this variant’s debut, the Raider is now available in six variants – drum, single seat, split seat, iGO, super squad edition and the range-topping SX variant (which is the only one to use a TFT dash, unlike the LCD seen on the others).
Raider 125 registers sales of 212,941 units in H1 FY2025
At the end of FY2024, the Raider 125 had clocked total cumulative sales of 787,059 units – 205,427 units shy of the million-units mark. Now, in the first six months of FY2025, that gap has been bridged with total dispatches of 212,941 units, taking the Raider’s total sales to date to 10,07,514 units.
The Raider 125, which is TVS Motor Co’s first 125cc motorcycle, was the company’s best-selling motorcycle in FY2024, selling 478,443 units (up 100% YoY) to race ahead of the TVS Apache series’ 378,072 units by 100,341 units. In FY2024, it was also TVS’ third-best-selling product after the flagship Jupiter scooter and the XL moped (481,803 units), missing out on the second spot by just 3,360 units. In April 2024, the Raider surpassed the 800,000 units milestone, taking a scant 31 months from launch and efficiently capturing demand in the rapidly-growing 125cc commuter motorcycle market as also Gen-Z motorcycle buyers.
The TVS Raider 125 is part of an extremely competitive segment, which has well-established products like the Hero Glamour, Super Splendor, Xtreme 125, Bajaj Pulsar, Honda Shine, and more recently the Freedom 125, the world’s first CNG-powered motorcycle.
Available in six variants (drum, single seat, split seat, Super Squad edition, ZX and now the iGO), the Raider 125’s on-road Mumbai pricing starts at Rs 95,200 for the single-seat bike, Rs 97,000 for the split seat variant and to Rs 103,600 for the range-topping Raider 125SX.
The TVS Raider 125’s standout elements include its athletic-looking styling in the form of the muscular tank, snazzy headlight and minimalist tail-lamp, as also the split seat. Clearly, the snazzy styling with more than a hint of sportiness, when compared to the staid designs of most of its rivals, seems to have paid dividends to the Raider 125. What seems to have drawn buyers to the TVS Raider 125 is also the number of features like daytime running lights, pass-light switch, pillion grabrail, pillion seat, pillion footrest, tripmeter, electric start and clock.
Voted Autocar India’s Bike of the Year 2022, for its combination of striking looks, punchy engine and value-for-money proposition, the Raider 125 is powered by TVS’ potent 124.8cc engine, which develops 11.4hp and 11.2 Nm of torque, mated to a five-speed transmission. TVS claims this motorcycle, which is shod with 17-inch tyres, accelerates from 0-60kph in 5.9 seconds and goes on to hit a top speed of 99kph. Fuel efficiency is a claimed 67 kilometres per litre.
TVS Apache ahead of Raider 125 by 10,000 units in first-half FY2025
Meanwhile, the in-house battle for supremacy between TVS Motor Co’s flagship motorcycle Apache and the popular TVS Raider 125 continues. As per SIAM wholesales data, the Apache series of motorcycles clocked total dispatches of 222,947 units in the first six months of FY2025, compared to the Raider 125’s 212,941 units, giving the Apache brand, which straddles the 160-312cc categories, a lead of 10,006 units at end-September.
It may be recollected that the Apache series regained its lead over the Raider 125 after four quarters in Q1 FY2025. The Apache had led the Raider in Q1 FY2024 (April-June 2023) but lost it in Q2 FY2024 with a sharp 37% quarter-on-quarter drop in sales to 68,072 units, compared to the Raider’s 128,028 units. The Raider held on to the sales lead in Q3 and Q4 of FY2024 with over 120,000 units sold in each. However, in Q1 and Q2 FY2025, the Apache has gone ahead of the Raider 125. With cumulative dispatches of 222,947 units in April-September 2024, the Apache is ahead of the Raider 125 (212,941 units) by 10,006 units.
What’s common to both motorcycles though is that their dispatches in September 2024 are the highest yet in the current fiscal: 43,274 units for the Raider 125 and 41,640 units for the Apache series. Clearly, TVS is going all out to capture sales in the ongoing festive season.
(Inputs on new Raider iGO: Dinshaw Magol, Autocar India)
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