Honda Livo becomes bestselling 110cc motorcycle in India

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), which leads the mass commuter motorcycle market in the 110cc segment, has reason to celebrate. Its latest 110cc bike – the Livo – has become the bestselling model in its segment in the market a little over a year after commercial launch.

HMSI had launched the Livo in July 2015 with a starting price-tag of Rs 52,989 (ex-showroom, Delhi), and in four colour options – blue, white, brown and black.

According to the company, the Honda Livo was developed to address two primary requirements of the category of buyers it caters to – fuel economy and stylish design language. The Livo is targeted at aspirational first-time buyers across urban, semi-urban and even rural markets.

Honda, which had a sales target of selling 200,000 units of the Livo model within the first year of its launch, has successfully sold over 250,000 units in the past 12-13 months. The sales volume is in addition to the numbers its models under the Dream Series garner every month. The company recorded total sales of 330,719 units of its Dream models (Yuga, Neo, CD 110) in FY2015-16 as they dominated the 110cc commuter motorcycle space.

While the Livo model has worked well for the company in terms of consolidating Honda’s position in the mass commuter market, it has also grabbed some additional share in this highly competitive 75cc-110cc motorcycle segment.

According to industry sales data, Honda’s share in the said category stood at 5.84 percent for Q1 FY2016 (before the Livo’s launch). The same now stands at 8.77 percent for Q1 FY2017, all thanks to the additional customers that this model brought for the company. Notably, industry leader Hero MotoCorp’s share in the same segment (motorcycles) during Q1 FY2017 stood at 72.34 percent.

Marking the Livo’s successful first anniversary, HMSI has now rolled out two new colour palettes (red and grey with matte finish) of this model. “In the past 12 months, the Livo successfully went against the wind and outperformed, while the 100-110cc segment was under stress and faced a negative growth. With 250,000 units sold in a year, the Livo is now Honda’s best-selling motorcycle in the segment and the new exciting colour options will further enhance the Livo’s sporty character and youth appeal,” says Y S Guleria, senior vice-president – sales & marketing, HMSI, in a briefing on the Livo’s contribution to the company.

Incoming competition from Hero Splendor iSmart 110

The Honda Livo, the bestselling 110cc motorcycle in India, will likely face stiff competition from Hero’s latest offering, the Splendor iSmart 110 which rode into retail showrooms last month. While the latest Splendor model marks Hero’s serious entry into the 110cc motorcycle space, it also offers pocket-friendly iSmart (idle-stop-start technology) feature. The Livo, on the other hand, comes equipped with HET technology (Honda Eco Tech).

Honda currently sells the Livo, powered by an air-cooled, single-cylinder, 8.2bhp 109.19cc engine, at a sticker price of Rs 53,501 (for the drum brake variant) and Rs 56,004 (for the top-end front disc brake variant). Both prices are ex-showroom, Delhi.

Positioned very close to the Honda Livo’s price band, Hero’s all-new Splendor, powered by an air-cooled, single-cylinder, 9.4bhp, 109.15cc engine, retails only in drum brake option (currently) for Rs 53,300 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The recently launched Yamaha Saluto RX and TVS Victor further pep up the competition in the 110cc motorcycle segment. While TVS’ new Victor, powered by air-cooled, single-cylinder, 9.5bhp, 109.7cc engine, retails at an ex-showroom, Delhi price-tag of Rs 49,715 (for drum brake option; Rs 51,715 for front disc brake variant), Yamaha’s well-priced Saluto RX undercuts that of all the above-mentioned models currently on sale. The Saluto RX comes for Rs 46,400 (ex-showroom, Delhi) and is powered by an air-cooled, single-cylinder, 7.4bhp, 110cc engine.

It would be interesting to take a note of how Honda will guard its leadership position in this intensifying segment in the coming months.

One year to Honda’s RevFest 2015

It’s been a year to Honda’s RevFest, which was organised on August 4 last year as the company had aggressively rolled out several models including its popular four-cylinder, liquid-cooled, 649cc CBR650F. While the CB Hornet 160R was first unveiled at the event, updated CBR150R and CBR250R were launched with cosmetic changes marking Honda’s serious intentions of taking on various segments in the motorcycle market.

Autocar Professional estimates that the CBR650F (pictured above) has sold close to 170-175 units until July 2016, averaging monthly sale of 14-15 units in the last 12 months, which is a healthy number considering the model’s class and its price tag of Rs 7.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The fully-faired, 85bhp midsized model, which is imported via completely knocked down route (CKD) from Thailand and is locally assembled at HMSI’s Manesar plant, competes with Kawasaki’s four-cylinder, 806cc Z800 and Benelli’s four-cylinder, 600cc TNT 600i and TNT 600GT variants.

The company now plans to bring in its globally popular litre-class adventure motorcycle – CRF1000L Africa Twin to India as early as June-July 2017. It would become Honda’s second premium offering with local assembly operations as the company will take on the rising demand for adventure bikes in India.