India will be the biggest global market for Honda's two-wheeler business by 2015 before eventually accounting for 30 per cent of its overall market share. At present, this is 13 per cent but the company is going flat out with new product launches as part of an aggressive growth strategy.
The 110cc Dream Yuga motorcycle, unveiled at the Auto Expo here on Thursday, will roll out this year for the mass market, a segment in which Honda's former partner, the Hero group, rules the roost with the Splendor and Passion brands.
Mass market pricing
The Yuga is expected to be priced competitively at around Rs 45,000, which could give the company the much needed momentum in its motorcycle business. The other launches included a new 110cc Dio scooter as well as the larger CBR150R and 250R bikes.
Officials said Honda R&D would now work closely with the Manesar operations of HMSI (Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India), which would facilitate faster product launches in the coming years. In addition, the company will increase the number of its zonal offices and training centres keeping in mind the growing demand from smaller towns and the need to be closer to this critical buyer base.
Clearly, Honda is determined to make up the lost numbers ceded to the Hero group, which works out to over five million units annually. The revised strategy will call for an aggressive play in the pricing segment while offering top quality products.
Global share
India will, in the process, take over from Indonesia and Vietnam as Honda's biggest two-wheeler market over the next five years. As for the bigger goal of 30 per cent share in its global business, Honda's annual two-wheeler volumes here would have to be in the region of 10 million units annually. Observers believe this could become a reality by 2020.
At present, over four million units are in place from its three units in Manesar (the largest with 1.6 million), the recently commissioned Rajasthan plant and the newly identified site in Karnataka (with capacities of 1.2 million units each). The balance six million bikes and scooters, in that case, will have to be generated from new facilities even as reports are already doing the rounds that Honda is looking at options in the western and southern regions post-2014.