Honda is planning to open 20 exclusive showrooms in India that will only cater to high-end motorcycle buyers. The CBR650F will be launched in August with Honda producing 60 units a month.
After splitting up from long-time partners Hero, Honda’s 2-wheeler division has done a good job so far to launch mass market products to beat Bajaj in terms of sales in the country. The company has settled down in the Indian market now and is enjoying the ever increasing sales of its scooters, rather just the Activa. With the growing brand image and increasing market share, Honda has optimistic plans for India and is now planning to seriously cater to the premium motorcycle market.
But Honda doesn’t want to sell its premium motorcycles alongside the motorcycles that it offers to the mass market. The company is looking to open 20 exclusive high-end motorcycle stores in the country. The places where these showrooms will open is still not known but will certainly be in big cities. Honda wants its premium motorcycle buyers to have a much better purchasing experience as compared to its more affordable bikes.
All of us are now aware that Honda’s first affordable premium bike launch in India comes in the form of the CBR650F. The bike is expected to be launched in the month of August and will be brought down via the CKD route. The middle-weight CBR is expected to be priced at a staggering Rs. 8 lakhs (ex-showroom) in the country and Honda says that it will produce 60 units of the motorcycle in a month. The lack of heavy localisation will only make people look at the CBR650F from outside Honda’s new showrooms, but the Japanese company promises that price of the bike will fall depending on the market demand and increase in local content.
The fact that Honda has finally decided to consider India as a serious premium motorcycle market comes as music to many of its fans’ ears. Honda currently sells many high-performance motorcycles in India including the likes of the CB1000R, CBR1000RR, VFR1200F, VT1300CX and the Gold Wing 1800. Though the manufacturer is not able to sell many units of their sportbikes and cruisers, Honda has seemingly gained a lot of interest in launching new and affordable premium bikes in our country to garner sales. It will also bring the updated CBR150R, new CBR250R and the CBR500R to India and has nine more launches planned for this year.
