Upcoming Honda motorcycles will play in the midsize segment and with the company’s renewed interest, things will get interesting in the coming months…
Of all the manufacturers present in India, Hero and Honda have focus set on commuter bikes. Not that others do not vie for volumes but these two predominantly think and act on small utility bikes for the market. But things may change at Honda’s camp if a latest report at Economic Times is to be believed.
ET quotes Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Sr Vice President, Sales and Marketing at HMSI, and reports that Honda has a renewed interest in the mid-capacity motorcycle segment. The good bit is that they are not just talking about insanely costly big CKD/CBU machinery but mid-sizers which will be produced locally.
Mr Guleria says that Honda understands that pricing is a key aspect to growth in this segment and hinted at the possibility of the products being locally produced. Currently, even its CB 300R is brought to us as a CKD! The biggest local model is the CBR 250R which it is dragging for the last 7-8 years without having made any significant changes to the model. As a result, sales for these two are among the lowest in this segment!
Mr Guleria further reveals that they are sorting out the kind of portfolio that would work for India. He adds that there will be a ‘range’ of motorcycles and not one single bike. The company has formed a 15 member strong team for premium bikes. It has also set a target of introducing 100 independent outlets which will include 22 Big Wing (Honda’s premium motorcycle showrooms) dealerships in major towns of India.
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With a concentrated approach, Honda intends to grab a market share of about 10 percent in the longer run. Mr Guleria also said that with Bharat Stage VI emission norms there lies a good export potential for these motorcycles.
Source – Economic Times
