New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) Hero MotoCorp on Thursday said it recorded highest-ever sales in a festive season by retailing more than 14 lakh two-wheeler units in the 32-day period this year.

The country's largest two-wheeler maker achieved the sales mark between the first day of the Navratras and Bhai Dooj on November 15.

Riding on robust demand across rural markets as well as steady retail off-take in key urban centres, the company registered a 19 per cent growth over the previous year, and surpassed its previous highest retail of 12.7 lakh units which was recorded in the festive period of 2019, Hero MotoCorp said in a statement.

'Our strong portfolio of brands, scale of distribution and new launches done this year have helped in driving this growth across geographies,' Hero MotoCorp CEO Niranjan Gupta said.

The festive season is a clear testimony that rural is coming back to growth, which augurs well for the country in general and the two-wheeler industry in particular, he added.

Hero MotoCorp Chief Business Officer (India Business Unit) Ranjivjit Singh said the record retail number was achieved due to the strong customer traction across markets, with good double-digit growth in the Central, North, South and East zones.

The robust customer demand in the rural markets, in addition to the very positive sentiments in key urban centres, drove this record retail sales, he added.

'With this robust retail sales, our post-festive channel inventory has now come down to its lowest level in more than three years. This has set us on a steady growth path for the rest of the fiscal year,' Singh noted. PTI MSS SHW