Honda’s announcement last year about a new 160 cc motorcycle did make everyone excited and people expected a sportier new motorcycle in the premium space against the formidable Yamaha FZ and Gixxer. However the CB Unicorn 160 turned out to be a more powerful version of the present generation Unicorn 150, coming out just as another evolved commuter. There was a widespread belief that Unicorn 160 will NOT be a brisk seller however, that is far from the fact!
In terms of sales, for the current financial month 2016 (ie April and May 2015), Unicorn 160 sold 38,992 units at an average of over 19000 units every month. In comparison Gixxer (plus Gixxer SF) sold a little less than 11,000 units and here comes the bigger blow – It (Uni 160) outsold all the Yamaha 150cc motorcycles combined which include FZ- all variants, Fazer, SZ and R15. Suzuki and Yamaha though exported 4,198 and 18,378 units of their motorcycles respectively.
If you were surprised at these statistics, let us also add that only 3537 units separate Unicorn 160 and TVS Apache twins (160 & 180) for the two months we are talking about.
However, despite this feat, Unicorn 160 has not been able to achieve the same success as the older (now discontinued) Unicorn 150 still. When its production was in full swing, last year in April and May 2014, Honda sold 56,509 units of Uni 150 (includes Trigger & CBR150R units as well) at an average of about 28,000 units per month.
Also Read: Are Yamaha’s 150ccs Including FZ Losing Steam?
We have tested the Unicorn 160 recently and the pic you see here is from the same photoshoot. Stay tuned for a comprehensive road test review. That aside, what do you feel – Will Unicorn 160 continue dominance over FZs or things will settle down in a few months from now…?