Honda steps on the gas

With hardly any fanfare or buzz but just befitting its parent's stature of going about its task unobtrusively, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) slipped in its first fuel injected motorcycle into the western India market, mere hours after its national launch in New Delhi yesterday. The CBF Stunner PGM-FI is a technologically upgraded version of the company's 125cc Stunner and it signals Honda's intent to quietly push the technology envelope further in the class which matters the most - for the masses rather than just the enthusiast. Of course it comes with a massive Rs 14,000 price premium but the company is quietly confident that it can spread the message of benefits such technology can provide via gains to the environment, fuel efficiency, riding pleasure and performance.

"We intend to spread the message of fun riding across the motorcycling spectrum," informed Shinji Aoyama, CEO and President, HMSI at the media launch in Mumbai. "We want to do safe riding with responsibility yet have all the joys of motorcycling being made available to our customers and the launch of these bikes today is part of that very journey," mentioned Aoyama exclusively to ZigWheels.com.

HMSI also took this opportunity to launch its two superbikes in the litre class in the form of the stunning CBR1000RR Fireblade supersports machine as well as the macho and highly delectable naked roadster, the CB1000R. Both these bikes were revealed about a month earlier in Delhi where they have already gone on sale and now they would be available to discerning yet well-heeled bikers in Mumbai as well. After New Delhi, the company has opened the second of its Wing World outlets in Mumbai and these 1000cc motorcycles would only be handled, sold and serviced from this exclusive sales channel. The CBR1000RR Fireblade sports an ex-showroom price of Rs. 13,37,000 in Mumbai with the final on-road price setting one back a cool Rs 15,50,000. This bike is built in Honda's famous Kumamoto plant and is imported as a fully built unit to India.

The naked CB1000R roadster is built by Honda Italia and features a slightly detuned Fireblade engine which is characterized by its thick strong torque stream in the mid-range and a very optimum centre of gravity making it not a manic machine but probably the most user friendly bike in its class. Highly manoeuvreable and with exceedingly neutral handling, the riding position of this bike further aids in making this the best all round motorcycle money can buy in India. And speaking of which the CB1000R is priced at a very competitive Rs. 10,21,500 ex-showroom while its on-road price in Mumbai is a fantastic Rs 11,85,000.

HMSI hopes to spread its fun to ride campaign extensively in the country and while the launch of these two superbikes plus the new fuel injected Stunner are indicators to just this effect, the company is continuing with its rider training initiatives across all its dealerships. Last year it also took tentative steps into getting its customers to experience and explore motorcycle road racing aboard special motorcycles at the Chennai race circuit. This year it has firmed up plans for a single make racing championship spread over five rounds based on the two southern India race tracks at Chennai and Coimbatore.

HMSI has kept on with its growth trajectory intact even in a market which witnessed slow progress last year. While the overall two-wheeler industry grew by just 5 percent last year, HMSI grew by 18 percent, enabling the company to top off production above the one million unit mark for the first time in its history. The plan for 2009-10 is to hike this figure upwards to around 12.5 lakh units and judging by the way it is going about its task, expect it to hit this marker as well. HMSI should also be well served in attaining this figure and maybe exceeding it in the next fiscal given that it intends to launch an all new modern 100cc motorcycle on to the market in January 2010. Many might interpret this to mean infringing on Hero Honda's turf but HMSI is absolutely clear that its positioning would be to draw in more customers to the genuine Honda family on the basis of pricing and not because of competition against the Splendour and Passion. It is early days yet but this bike would be eagerly awaited.

Shinji Aoyama also exuded quiet confidence in his company's product portfolio which would be tweaked a good deal in time for the onset of the new Bharat Stage IV and BS III emissions scheduled to go into play from April 2010. "We will do all we can to make our bikes even more environmentally friendly to easily meet the BS emission standards," he told ZigWheels.com. "Actually, our CBF Stunner PGM-FI which we launched today emits just one tenth the specified quantum of tail pipe emissions than is required and we can easily clean this up even further," he added.