Honda Motorcycle to launch two new vehicles in FY18

During the current fiscal Honda grew by 20%, while the industry grew by 9%

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) has said that it would launch two new vehicles during the current fiscal to support its target of six million units for FY18. The company also said that of the total production, it is looking at around 5-5.5 per cent to export markets.

Speaking to reporters after introducing 110 cc scooter CLIQ in Tamil Nadu, Minoru Kato, president & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd said that Honda has set its most challenging target of 6 million unit sales in 2017-18.

Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President — Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd — added that the company will launch one motorcycle and one scooter during the current fiscal to accelerate the growth.

Kato said that during the current fiscal Honda grew by 20 per cent, while the industry grew by nine per cent. Market share of the company has increased by three per cent to 30 per cent.

Honda India also emerged as the top contributor to overall Honda's sales globally with 32 per cent share in terms of sales.

Guleria said as the automatic scooter gaining momentum, Honda is better positioned to capture the market especially the rural, with CLIQ. The key differentiator is pricing, an important element when a customer decides to buy a vehicle in the rural market.

With better road infrastructure, co-usage in a family and more women entering the workforce, the primary requirement of riders has evolved from the mileage and price conscious 110cc motorcycles to the more convenient and unisex automatic scooters.

Honda, which has been getting the major chunk of its sales from scooter almost 66 per cent is now seeing growth from motorcycle also. During the current fiscal, while motorcycle grew by around 20 per cent, scooter sales grew by 19 per cent.

Meanwhile, at a time when Honda's rival Bajaj, TVS and Mahindra shown interest in electric two-wheelers, Honda said that it may not look at e-vehicles in India since it will be not viable.

Kato said: "Battery is an issue. The electric vehicle is expensive in India and will not be viable now." It may be noted, Honda globally said that by 2018 it would look at launching an electric vehicle.

Speaking about exports, Guleria said that till now during the current fiscal, exports grew by nearly 40 per cent after markets in SAARC, Latin America and others have revived.