Mumbai: Two-wheeler major Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has decided to go in for an aggressive motorcycle strategy that will be in sharp contrast to the more staid route adopted for its Unicorn and Shine offerings.

N K Rattan, the head of sales and marketing at HMSI, said that the company wants to differentiate through its premium and sporty bikes. “We want to reach out to youngsters in a big way. The new bikes will be aggressive and advanced in style and performance,” he told DNA Money. A beginning has already been made with the recently launched CBF Stunner, which is targeted at the age group of 18 to 24 years.

This year will see HMSI launch a new product, which “could be a scooter or a motorcycle.” Indications are that it will be the long-awaited 100 cc bike, where a lot of attention will be paid to styling and performance in addition to attractive pricing. Sister concern Hero Honda dominates the segment.

Rattan said HMSI is training field staff on critical safety aspects in big bikes, as its two 800 cc-plus models are entering the market in the last quarter of this fiscal. As part of this effort, called ‘Safety Riding Trainer’, HMSI dealers will invest Rs 2 lakh each in simulation software.

The exercise has already begun and by 2010, all the 400 outlets (from 310 now) will have this in place. The bikes will be directly imported and will cost anything above Rs 10 lakh. The idea is to show the might of Honda and boost HMSI models in the process.

Expectations were high from HMSI when it launched its first motorcycle after the hugely successful Activa. The 150 cc Unicorn, however, was short on styling though there were no complaints on its performance. The 125 cc Shine that followed has been doing a lot better with average monthly sales of 20,000 units. But neither have been a remote threat to competing models from Hero Honda and Bajaj Auto.

Things could take a dramatic leap with the 125 cc Stunner. Rattan said 5,000 units were already sold in the last 12 days of July, after its launch. “We are confident that we will meet the targeted 80,000 units for this fiscal,” he added.

The bike is a result of a detailed market survey that HMSI commissioned two years ago. It focused on the age group of 18-24 years, a category that typically works in IT companies, call centres, retail showrooms and the like. “They like the latest in everything, be it goggles or iPods that can catch the fancy of their girl friends. In bikes, it would have to be something that is distinct yet affordable,” Rattan said.
HMSI also found from the research that the price for any such bike would have to be capped at Rs 55,000
Source: www.3dsyndication.com

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, the wholly owned subsidiary of Japan’s Honda Motor Co, plans to launch bikes priced at Rs 10 lakh and above at around the time the Tata Motors will be launching its small car Nano.

The company is looking at two big bikes and one small one in the current financial year, with a volume target of 10 lakh units against 9 lakh sold last year. The big bikes will have engines of 1,000cc and above, while smaller versions will be a 100cc one.

“All the three bikes will be launched by March 2009, taking the number of launches to four this fiscal,” Aoyama said. He was here to launch the 125cc CBF Stunner, priced at around Rs 48,000-Rs 53,000. Honda has set a sales target of 80,000 units aiming 8% of the total turnover from the model. The other three bikes would account for 2% of turnover.

HSMI, which has an 11% market share at present, is trying to maintain a steady share in India’s overall sales of eight million units a year by introducing more models, mostly in the 100cc-plus segment. Ayoma said that while sales of 100cc bikes fell by 15%, sales of 125 cc bikes grew 9% in 2007-08. Suzuki also plans to launch 1,300cc Hayabusa and 1,000cc GSXR this year.