Self-start mantra at HMSI

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) plans to gradually ramp up production of the recently-launched 125cc Shine. The company has targeted sales of 1.7 lakh units of the motorcycle this fiscal which is seen as being a relatively modest number in a growing product category. It will manufacture about 300 units of the Shine every day during the April-May period and increase this to 775 bikes by the end of the financial year.

Interestingly, HMSI also expects more demand for the self-start model than the kickstart version. While production of the latter will be around 300-350 units per day in April-May, it will come down to around 290 units by March 2007. However, for the self-start version, though component procurement is expected to be negligible in the initial few months, it will go up to 191 units daily in July 2006 and even higher to 485 units by the end of the fiscal. As for the 150cc Unicorn, production is slated to increase to around 350 units a day in April to 525 motorcycles by March 2007. On an average, production is pegged at 25 days each month.

Again, in the case of the Unicorn, the self-start option rules the roost. While it is around 245 units daily for April-May, it will be ramped up to 368 units by March 2007. The kickstart will remain almost flat at 105 and 157 bikes per day respectively, a clear indication that the self-start models of both models will dominate. The production schedule of scooters too is in line with the sales target of six lakh units this fiscal. The daily output of the geared Eterno will increase marginally from 325 to 425 units by the end of this financial year.

As for the Activa and Dio, their combined production will increase during the year from 1,450 vehicles to 1,624 units daily. HMSI, it may be recalled, has fixed a sales target of nine lakh two-wheelers for this fiscal, which was scaled down from the originally estimated one million units.

During 2007-08, the company will look at an output of 1.2 million units by which time the next motorcycle will join the stable. This is tipped to be a 100cc model and part of a segment that is doing the really big numbers at present. However, there are different price points here and in the mass-entry category, the likes of the CT100 and Star City are the leaders while in the executive segment, Hero Honda is well ahead of competition with its Splendor and Passion offerings. It will be interesting to see how HMSI positions its new bike.

Quite unlike the Activa where it quickly established its supremacy in gearless scooters, the company has just not been able to do much in motorcycles. The Unicorn has been unable to notch the big numbers in the 150cc power and performance segment where the Pulsar is the clear leader. In fact, the market expects the recently-launched TVS Apache to do at least 10,000 units over the next few months which will make it the second largest player in this category.