The Japanese two-wheeler maker Honda Motorcycle Scooters India (HMSI) is developing a new motorcycle in the 100cc segment for the Indian market which is expected to be launched in three years.
Since Honda was in the Hero Honda collaboration they could not enter the 100cc market, but now since there is no kind hindrance Honda will try to take over this segment as elegantly as it took the 150cc with the introduction of the Unicorn. In the next ten years Honda targets to be number one in the bike industry in India.
According to company officials, “We will showcase a 100-cc bike at the Auto Expo in January and plan to launch it next fiscal. It will be priced in the range of Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000.” It was reported that the bike is currently under development at the company’s R&D centre in Japan, with inputs from Indian engineers. “It will be primarily sold in the domestic market,” he added, but declined to share the sales target for the to-be-launched mass segment bike.
The bike would be produced from Honda’s existing facility at Manesar and would take about two years to develop while another year would be spent for commercial production and marketing.
The company has already announced investments of Rs400 crore for increasing Manesar plant capacity to 12 lakh units per annum from the existing 9 lakh units, as well as marketing initiatives and product development.
The company is also looking at the possibility of introducing its popular high-end bikes in the domestic market that could cost a whopping Rs10 lakh per unit as high-end bikes are levied 60 per cent duty.
It was also mentioned that besides, strengthening its product portfolio, the company is also expanding its dealership network. At present, it has 1,220 outlets, including service centres, and plans to add another 300 outlets within the current financial year.
Image – The 100cc Honda H100 was on sale in 1988 in Britain
Also see – Honda plans 500cc and 1000cc bikes in India
