Honda arrived at Pragathi Maiden in full force with its recently launched 110cc CB Twister, the new more sportier 2010 CBF Stunner and new 102cc Dio and a concept version of Unicorn.
out of the lot, the interesting two is the Stunner which would be launched tomorrow and the Dio which was launched a day back. stay tuned for the price and spec details
Image Gallery:
The Stunner has been a unique bike in the Indian market with its more body for less CC prospect. Honda was clever in understanding the Indian mentality and is cashing out big on this. To increase the sales even more Honda is coming up with a new stunner for 2010 with the added usuals one would expect from on a sportier bike upgrade. This makes a stunner of a bike to look at.
From the looks of it the 2010 model is covering the basics with blacking out everything from the engine to the silencer guard to the suspension forks. A new much sportier vinyl graphics is thrown on and a very apache like engine guard completes the new look. Other than the shout out looks Honda has added a couple of things for making things easy for the customer, maintenance free battery and a more talkative speedometer. There isn’t any official word on the bike’s launch but the word out on the scene is that it would be launched by this month end. However there is a high chance of it being at Honda’s stand at the Delhi Auto Expo which starts tomorrow. come back we will have more on this once the story reveals itself.
Image Gallery:
Honda has just launched its first potentially high volume bike in India, the CB Twister 110cc. As is obvious, the bike will be propelled by a 100cc engine the revs up to 8000 rpm and transmitted through a 4 speed (1-down 3-up) gear box. Priced at a competitive Rs. 42,000/- it should hit the market in the soft spot.
The bike looks quite stunning (more than the self-professed ‘Stunner’, I might add) and the mileage rating of 70 kmpl is quite impressive too. It should sell like hot cakes, but the big question is will it cannibalize sales from its sister Hero Honda?, which incidentally dominates the 100-110c segment with endless iterations of the Splendor and Passion. Well the short answer is no, the Twister is aimed at the college going crowd with its bad-ass petrol tank, the exposed chain, in-your-face color schemes and all the other jazzy elements. Style and sportiness seems to be the buzz word here instead of the comfort and practicality minded Splendor. Honda is exploring new niches to help boost sales and they seem to have struck gold here, as long as the performance lives up to its promise. We have to wait for it though, as HMSI will officially launch it in the upcoming Delhi Auto Show and confirm the pricing.
The lower strata of the motorcycle market is seeing a lot of sportiness lately, what with the Pulsar dropping down to 135cc and Honda now deciding to give us a 100cc sports bike. So, exciting times ahead for the budget-biker…
Do check out the gallery and let us know what you make of it in the comments section.
Image Gallery:
A month after Honda Motorcycles India’s CEO announced that its next offering would be a 100cc plus sportier bike; BSMotoring has come out with hazy spy pictures of what Mr. Shinji Aoyama was talking about. According to BSM the bike is an 110cc and bloggers are calling it CB Twister. So what we have here is Honda raising the bar with putting together an engine from one segment and body from another, much like what it did with the Stunner.
Clearly it’s a stand out bike from the ones offered in the 110cc segment and that’s why we would expect it to stand out of the price margin as well, but according to Business Standard the bike is expected to cost around Rs. 45,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi). Well if BS is to be believed everyone in the commute segment has to make a run for it as the Twister is one helluva tornado.
The bike even on these blurry pictures look quite sharp. Fuel tank seems to have been borrowed from the Stunner but it is hard to tell as major part of Stunner’s tank is coved by its faring. Tank scoops on the Twister are stylish so is the front faring and so the entire body work. On top of the body work the paint job is golden literally. When Honda launches a product you can bet on it to be great but with something that looks this good it sure is going to be epic.
Image Gallery:
While we were off for a few days, Mahidra launched a LCV called “GIO” , Premier launched a SUV called “RIO” and Honda launched a new version of its scooter “AVIATOR” and not “DIO” which would have been one helluva coincidence. Anyways lets start with the new Aviator.
With Mahindra swinging into the scooter action in the country, the reigning king of the segment Honda is elevating its game with a bigger 110cc engine to its Aviator. This bigger engine actually comes from the newly launched Activa and so does the new Aviator’s tamper proof lock and the combined braking system. Honda has thrown in a maintenance free battery and a less-maintenance required air filter to sum up the new Aviator.
The engine is a 10cc upgrade from the old engine which managed 8bhp, the new engine produces 1bhp more. Honda claims that this engine is 15% more fuel efficient than the older engine.
The Combined Braking System (CBS) provides more braking effort by applying both brakes even when you apply one. The calibration has been done in a way to avoid skidding and reduce the stopping distance by 24% from 50kmph.
The Aviator comes in two variants, Aviator and Aviator Deluxe. The former costs Rs 42,000 while the latter 47,000 ex-showroom Delhi, which is an increase of 3000 and 4000 respectively from the older Aviator.
The extra 5grand on the Deluxe model will get you alloy wheels, combined braking system with front disc brake, elegant chrome finished front cover, instrument panel garnish, body colored rear grab rail and painted inner cover.
Image Gallery:
Honda motorcycle and scooter India (HMSI) is currently producing all its 2-wheelers for India in its Manesar plant on the outskirts of Delhi. It has invested Rs. 1000 crores on this plant. Honda has threatened to shut this plant because of labor problems.
Honda always had labor problems but this time it has reached new high. According to sources Honda’s production has reduced to up to 50% due to this labor problem and it has lost up to 250 crore rupees. Production of a new line of motorcycle which should have been started by now hasn’t gotten headway because of this labor problem. All these led Honda to file a Petition in Punjab and Haryana high court.
The petition read “..Since the product manufactured is of world-class quality, hence there is a demand for the product in the market. But if the present trend continues, the petitioner company (HMSI) may be forced to either to shift production to its other plants worldwide or shift out of the state of Haryana,”
According to reporting the entire problem started over the formulation of the new long-term wage settlement after the previous three-year agreement expired on July 31 this year. The demands of the labors if met would make then earn considerable more than their counterparts at Hero Honda and Honda doesn’t think that it is reasonable.
Vice President for Industrial Relationship at HMSI, Mr. Mohan Deepak said “This (the demands) is not at all acceptable to us as it is not reasonable. We are ready to pay a reasonable salary depending upon the age and experience of our associates with reasonable hikes to improve their quality of life,”
This outburst has reinforced the fact that Gurgaon-Manesar belt is not an ideal place for the auto industry. Hero Honda and Maruti are facing similar problems with their labors, even some of the major suppliers like Sunbeam and Rico Auto are under enormous pressure with labor problems.
