After the high-intensity 4th August 2015 RevFest disappointment, if you were still hopeful of the new CBR150R and CBR250R, sparked by the launch of the aggressive 2016 CBR150R in Indonesia, we have some further let-down for you…
We caught up with Mr YS Guleria, Senior Vice President, Honda India, at the Auto Expo and apart from other questions (few on Navi) we asked, almost exclaiming – “When can we expect the (real) new 29 PS dual headlamp CBR250R in India?“. Before announcing “no more questions on CBR“, he did confirm that they have NO plans of introducing them in India anytime soon.
He also quashed the possibility of the bigger CBR300R (in place of the CBR250R) for our market before putting down a “No” for the new CBR150R. Mr Guleria also put in a word that they have no plans of launching anything new in the mid-size (till the 500 cc) segment which means the CBR500R (showcased at the last Auto Expo 2014) is also not destined to hit our shores this year as well.
Basically, Honda is not very keen on refreshing their CBRs in India and have their focus set on the more volume churning products. They believe they can still fight on with their existing CBRs with the newer products that are getting launched in this space.
Just for your information, Honda launched the CBR250R in India in March 2011 and CBR150 was introduced back in 2012 (incidentally at the Auto Expo). So, it has been more than 4 years since both the models are in the market without any kind of update or feature addition. In fact, apart from new colours and graphic refreshes, both the CBRs haven’t had any other significant change what-so-ever!
Also Read: Honda AFRICA TWIN Announced for India; Launch this Year!
What do you think about Honda’s strategy in this premium segment – will it work for them?