Honda could be planning to introduce the idling stop system on its scooters and has imported the Vario 125 in the country for R&D purposes.
The scooter segment is the next dominating space in the Indian two-wheeler market and has certainly been profitable for the entrant Honda. The Japanese manufacturer has been ruling the segment with its offerings and is also building the world’s largest scooter manufacturing facility in Gujarat citing the huge demand, the plant will be operational soon. With India expected to become one of the largest markets for scooters in the coming years, Honda is mulling to launch a new scooter and recently imported the Vario 125 in the country with the ‘idling stop’ system.
The Honda Vario 125 scooter is powered by a 124.8cc single-cylinder, air-cooled engine with fuel injection that is tuned to produce 11.3 BHP of power and 10.8 Nm of torque, paired to a CVT gearbox. The USP on this scooter though is the Idling stop function that shuts down the engine when the scooter is idling for a long time, thereby reducing fuel wastage. The feature is extremely useable for city riders in bumper-to-bumper traffic on a daily basis. Incidentally, Hero has a similar technology equipped on the Splendor iSmart model. Internationally, the Vario is said to return 59.5 km/l while the top speed achievable is 96 km/hr.
In terms of design, the Honda Vario gets a sporty styling with sharp lines and an angular frame that will be appreciated here. In addition, the scooter comes with Honda’s Combi-Braking System (CBS) that is also seen on the new CB Unicorn 160. With all the features though, the Vario will be expensive and the Activa maker could instead look into equipping its models with the idling stop system that will help improve the fuel economy figures. If launched in here, the Vario will be positioned above the Activa 125 but chances of its launch in India seems highly unlikely.
Source – Zauba.com