Honda midsize motorcycles not coming soon; President’s lack of interest in this segment…
It its pursuit to dethrone erstwhile partner Hero MotoCorp from the top spot, Honda is completely immersed in the volume segment; so much so that they have no time to think about the higher, more interesting segments, which are witnessing terrific growth.
A direct testimonial to this is their lack of interest in anything over the 150 cc segment. They strengthened the 150 cc segment with a new introduction (XBlade) and repositioned Hornet by increasing its price. However, anything over this and chances are that you will not be considering a Honda.
Honda Midsize Motorcycles
The only product bigger than this in the affordable segment – CBR 250R, has NOT been touched mechanically since the last…wait a minute… 7 years! Honda is selling the same CBR with new stickers and cosmetic enhancements since its inception! During this time, the world has moved at a rapid pace – TVS has partnered with BMW and has introduced the brilliant Apache 310, Bajaj has its Dominar 400 sharing KTMs tech, Mahindra has introduced Mojo – all of which are more powerful, more tech laden and feature-rich and cost around the same ballpark.
In what seems to be another proof of Honda’s lacklustre attitude towards this segment is Minoru Kato’s (Honda’s President & CEO) latest statement to AutocarPro. In a direct question on whether Honda intends to have more presence in the fast growing midsize segment, he said ‘it is NOT the right time; PLEASE WAIT!’
Honda NAVI Scores a BIG DUCK in March; Will it be Discontinued?
So, the same old CBR 250R is here to stay and do not expect much from Honda in this segment, in the times to come! In its 2018-19 year roadmap, Honda has announced launch of only one all-new model, along with refreshes to most of the existing products. Read details here.
