Honda’s 250cc bike by Diwali

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) plans to debut in the 250cc space in the next six months. Sources said the bike will hit the market before Diwali and will be priced at around Rs 1.5 lakh.

“R&D work on the bike is complete and trial production will begin in the next three months. HMSI is banking heavily on this bike as it will its first offering in in this segment, which is heating up,” said the source. TVS is also planning to launch a product in this segment, its first too.

However, before the 250cc bike hits the market, HMSI will introduce upgrades of its 125cc Shine and also launch the upgraded Unicorn (150cc) — the third upgrade since its launch 5 years back.

Another bike that could get volumes and marketshare for HMSI is the 110cc CB Twister, which is its first launch in the highly competitive mass segment. The space is so far dominated by Hero Honda’s offerings and Bajaj’s Discover.

“With Twister we are attempting to revive the mass-market segment and hope to sell around 2.2 lakh units by FY11. The product will also help us increase our market share from 13% to around 15% by the next financial year,” said Naresh Rattan, VP (marketing and sales), HMSI.

Since the pricing of Twister (Rs 44,870- Rs 51,150 ex showroom Mumbai) is premium in the 110cc market, the company is confident of selling good numbers. However, a HMSI dealer, who did not wish to be named, said, “the price of Twister is very close to that of Shine and it might eat into the latter’s market.”

Unconcerned about any cannibalisation, the HMSI official said a price gap will be created as upgrades of Shine and Stunner are launched. Shine currently sells around 25,000 units a month, while the Stunner sells 10,000 units.

Meanwhile, HMSI’s 15-lakh-unit Manesar plant is running at near-full capacity. Rattan said the possibility of setting up a new plant is being considered and a decision will be taken this year.

Despite labour issues in the Manesar belt, HMSI expects to close the year with sales of 1.25 million two-wheelers. It aims to sell 1.5 million units in the next fiscal.

Rattan said HMSI is optimistic of increasing exports as well. “We will close the year with 83,000 units —next year it will be over a lakh units”.