Honda has had a patchy innings in the Indian two-wheelers market with a mix of successful and failed products. This is contrary to the company’s performance in the 4-wheeler space.
Earlier we spoke about the Bajaj bikes that got discontinued from the Indian market and now we talk about Honda bikes on the same topic. Honda might be having an excellent run with the Activa and some of its other products but the company has had some bikes in its kitty that had to be discontinued due to poor sales or to make way for newer models.
First up, we have the CB Twister which was launched in 2010. The bike was discontinued earlier this year and it was replaced by the new Livo motorcycle. Then we have the CB Trigger which too was stopped in August this year. The bike was BS III compliant only and the Japanese company did not have any intentions of making it BS IV compliant. The motorcycle was having low sales too and it survived in the Indian market for only 2 years.
The Honda CB Unicorn 150 was a popular bike in India but it got axed in June 2015. Dealers continued selling leftover units at a premium later as middle-age buyers still preferred that bike (some are still hoping for Honda to bring back the Unicorn 150). The bike was replaced by the CB Unicorn 160. The older Unicorn served the Indian market for 10 years and even now it is known as a very reliable commuter bike. Next up is the CB Dazzler which was actually supposed to replace the Unicorn but since the latter was very popular, Honda couldn’t discontinue it.
Thus, the Dazzler was replaced by the CB Trigger. The bike was a nice package but it failed to strike a chord with buyers and hence it had to be pulled off too. The CBF Stunner was Honda’s attempt to provide a faired bike with sporty styling to the masses. However, the bike had a 125cc engine and it was priced quite optimistically as compared to other bikes in the same segment and when dealers stopped getting any demand for the bike, Honda had to eventually pull it off. Can you guess as to which will be the next Honda model to be axed in our country?
