Manesar, January 17, 2013: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has replaced its existing scooter range with all-new 2013 year model Activa, Aviator and Dio scooter models. The company revealed its new scooter range after inaugurating its state-of-the-art Honda Technical Centre (HTC) at Manesar earlier today.
The new scooters come equipped with Honda Eco Technology (HET) which has been co-developed by Honda’s R&D divisions in Japan, Thailand and Manesar, India. The company says HET improves combustion, reduces friction and optimises the transmission to enhance fuel efficiency by 11 percent. Honda says this platform can be used to develop a range of two-wheelers from 110cc through to 1200cc.
While the Activa RS is priced at Rs 47,188, the Dio RS costs Rs 44,701, the Aviator Std RS is priced at Rs 48,211 and the Aviator Deluxe RS Rs 53,531 (all prices, ex-showroom Delhi).
HMSI says the 109cc Activa RS, which develops 8bhp and improved torque of 8.74Nm, will deliver 60kpl, up from the existing Activa’s 54kpl. Priced at Rs 47,188 (ex-showroom Delhi), the 2013 Activa gets a new colour – Wild Purple Metallic along with the four existing colours – black, red, grey and pearl white. The scooter comes with Combi-brakes, anti-theft key lock shutter, a wider and longer seat, and 18-litre under-seat storage facility.
The 2013 Aviator, priced at Rs 48,212 for the standard variant and Rs 53,531 for the deluxe RS variant, gets the same 109cc, 4-stroke, air-cooled engine along with a new Royal Gold Metallic colour in addition to the three existing black, white and red colours. This scooter gets 12-inch alloy wheels, ABS body parts, multi-reflector headlamps and tail-lamps, 190mm front disc brakes and a 130mm rear drum.
The third model, the Dio gets a new 110cc, 8bhp engine and is available in a new pearl yellow colour along with red, white and grey. It comes with tubeless tyres, Combi-brakes and viscous air filter as standard equipment.
New product gameplan
HMSI is at present developing a new model at the HTC which is capable of new product development from grounds-up level; this model is slated for a launch in the near future. The HTC, which covers 10,000 square metres at the Manesar plant, is staffed by around 200 engineers from Honda R&D India, who have helped co-develop the new 2013 model scooter range for India.
According to Atsushi Amataka, president, HRID, “We are committed to deliver products of the highest quality at an affordable price by enhancing our efficiency of having R&D, design, engineering, purchase and quality under one roof for the first time.”
Speaking at the launch today, Keita Muramatsu, president and CEO, HMSI said: “As India becomes the global automation hub for Honda, customers can look forward to new products every quarter and also faster delivery of some of our higher-demand models with the start of operations at our third facility at Karnataka soon.”
The company has revealed that it is developing four new models (scooters and motorcycles) at the HTC for launch in the next fiscal (2013-14). According to Y S Guleria, president (sales and marketing), HMSI, starting January 2013 till March 2014, every quarter, one new product will be rolled out in both scooter and motorcycle segments.
The company is looking at a 50:50 contribution from both portfolios. In the first 10 months of the current fiscal (April-December 2012), HMSI has sold 2,043,415 units: 943,953 motorcycles/46% and 1,099,463 scooters/54%.
Gunning for speedier growth
HMSI, which currently has a 48.79 percent market share in the scooter segment (see table), is keen to further increase its share. SIAM’s April-December 2012 sales figures reveal that the scooter/scooterette segment has posted 18.44 percent growth, selling 2,178,209 units compared to 1,839,100 units a year ago. Recognising this trend in the Indian market, new players like India Yamaha Motor with its 113cc Ray have entered the market four months ago.
Photograph (L-R): Atsushi Amataka, president - Honda Research & Development India (HRID), Keita Muramatsu, president & CEO, HMSI, and Yadvender Singh Guleria, president (Sales & Marketing), HMSI.
SHOBHA MATHUR