Honda CBR650F Production in India May Begin Earlier

We told you last month about Mr. Y.S. Guleria, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, confirming that the CBR650F sportbike would be launched by the fourth quarter of the financial year 2015-2016 in India. Now, according to a report on auto.ndtv.com, Guleria has announced that Honda will be starting the production of the inline four-cylinder motorcycle in India from next year. And this time he did not use the term ‘financial year’…

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Guleria, talking to reporters at the foundation stone laying ceremony of its new plant at Vithalapur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is said to have confirmed the ‘making’ of the CBR 650F from next year. He said that the bike’s production will not only open up the skill of the company’s existing manpower, it will also showcase Honda India’s ‘manufacturing quality’ to the world. Does that mean Honda will not just assemble the bike here, but manufacture it completely?

Well, that would be too much to ask for, and Guleria also added that it has not been decided as yet where the bike would be manufactured among the company’s four plants (including the one under construction in Gujarat) because ‘the numbers are too small and a quick decision can be taken’. These words reiterate that the bike would only be assembled here, at least initially.

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However, if Honda does manufacture it here, the motorcycle could be priced ridiculously low for an inline-four! A dream price of less than even the Ninja 650R’s could be then very much possible. Moreover, the commencing of production (assembly or manufacturing) by next year would mean that the first lot of the bikes would be out as a 2015 batch. We’ll be following Mr. Guleria even more closely now…