Honda India is on the final stages of production of its 100cc bike and the Japanese automobile major plans to unveil it soon. The 100cc is the largest segment in terms of volume in the Indian two-wheeler market. HMSI has presence in the 125-cc segment with the Shine and the Stunner models and in the premium 150cc segment with the Unicorn.
HMSI vice-president and operating head-purchase Anupam Mohindroo told reporters that the firm will soon launch the 100cc variant at the Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi. He further added that the 100cc vehicle will be a different model, unlike most other 100cc offerings as it will be based on the lines of the CBF Stunner 125.
After the huge success of recently launched Apache RTR 180 & Flame SR125, TVS India is has launched all new scooterette - TVS Wego. It has been launched with a price tag of 41,000 (Ex-Showroom). It is powered by a new 110cc engine which also powers the TVS Jive. The 110cc engine generates maximum power of 8.4 Bhp at 7500 rpm with 8 Nm of torque at 5500 rpm. TVS has good experience in manufacturing scooterettes with automatic trasmission as they are selling TVS Scooty n good numbers.
After the huge success of recently launched Apache RTR 180 & Flame SR125, TVS India is has tapped the market of clutchless bikes with the launch of TVS Jive. It has been launched with a price tag of 42,500 (Ex-Showroom). Jive comes with with 4-speed transmission but features an handfree gearshift and It comes with Tmatic technology. TVS Jive comes with gear Indicator and underseat space (bottle,umbrella and document). It is powered by a new 110cc engine which also powers the TVS Wego.
The 110cc engine generates maximum power of 8.4 Bhp at 7500 rpm with 8.3 Nm of torque at 5500 rpm. TVS has good experiance in manufacturing bikes with automatic clutch as they are selling TVS Neo in Indonesia and it is selling in good numbers.
After the huge success of New Honda Activa now Honda India has launched New Aviator 110 to compete with the likes of recently launched Mahindra Rodeo & Mahindra Duro. When Honda launched the New Activa with a 109cc engine, it was obvious that they would soon launch the Aviator with same 109cc engine. The 109cc engine is super refined, has absolutely no transmission judder and is also a tad more fuel efficient.
The engine of New Aviator 110 generates maximum power of 8 Bhp at 7500 rpm with maximum torque of 9 Nm at 5500 rpm. New Aviator will be available in two model:
- New Aviator 110 - New Aviator 110 Deluxe
The basic model of Aviator 110 has been priced at Rs 42,000.00 which the deluxe model will retail for Rs. 47,000.00. These prices are Ex-showroom New Delhi. The price of Aviator 110 Deluxe model is Rs. 6,000.00 more than the Activa Deluxe but Aviator 110 is definitely a much better scooter than the Activa as it offers better suspension, better brakes and alloy wheels.
- New Aviator 110 ———– Rs. 42,000.00 - New Aviator 110 Deluxe - Rs. 47,000.00
India’s leading gear-less scooter maker Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) is struggling with labour problem at its Manesar plant in Haryana and the firm predicts that this will cause the production to slide roughly by 50% this month.
HMSI had been producing over a lakh motorcycles and scooters earlier but now it feel that it will barely reach the 50,000 unit mark in October and the downward descend may continue in the coming months if a solution is not found for the labour issue. Honda’s other Indian arm - Hero Honda has been dominating the market and registered over four lakh unit of two-wheeler sales in September and hopes to maintain the positive growth.
The over-all two-wheeler sales in India is robust due to the festive season and attractive loan offers and is expected to cross the 9 lakh unit mark in the month of September 2009. However, HMSI due to its labour issue is losing out on this opportunity.
The Manesar region is facing severe labour problems at other plants located in the area. Thankfully , the Honda plant has not witnessed any violent protests but the pace of production has been reduced as the workers seek higher wages. This will further increase the waiting period for the firm’s flagship scooter - Activa.
There has been an increase in the prices of the car tyes. And the 7 per cent increase for the tyre price is because of the high demand and low supply. The car owners actually need not spend an extra 5 to 7 per cent. But it is the carmaker who needs to shell out an additional cost of Rs.800 for a new tyre for every new car they sell.
A deficiency of tyres in the market has become the reason for decrease of inventories at tyre makers to just 5-7 days from 20-25 days. And this is seriously affecting car manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, General Motors India and Ford India. There isn’t any clear information on how much are the carmakers affected by this situation.
“There is a demand-supply mismatch. While production has increased in the past few weeks, the supply of tyres has not kept pace, resulting into shortages. We have asked tyre companies to augment supplies but that has not happened yet,” a senior executive at Tata Motors said.
Auto makers assume that tyre companies are charging arbitrary prices. But the tyre makers are of the opinion that they are trying to meet the demand despite production constraints.
“Tyres are a capital-intensive industry and there has been no major capacity addition in a year due to slowdown in the market and economic recession. While sales have jumped in recent months, production has not increased to that level, leading to shortages,” said a senior executive of a tyre company on condition of anonymity. It is expected that the price will be dropped once the festival season is over and the demand for cars come down.
Bajaj India has announced the launch date for much awaited Kawasaki Ninja 250R, it is going to be launched on 7th October and deliveries will start before diwali. Kawasaki Bajaj’s Official Website is also up and runnung. But it is not going to compete with R15 and Karizma ZMR because of its price which will be around 1.60-1.90 lakhs.
It is an entry level sports motorcycle with a fairing made further as if an actual off-road sports bike. Bajaj along with Kawasaki will be marketing it in India and is soon expected to be seen in the market in Bajaj Pro biking showrooms. Bajaj will import the Ninja250R in CKD form from Thailand to save on custom duties.
Kawasaki has marketed the Ninja 250R since 1986 as an entry-level sport motorcycle intended for use on paved roads. The bike is marketed in the US as the Ninja 250R, as the ZX250 in the UK, and as the GPX250 elsewhere.
The India based Munjals group Hero has launched the country’s first ever high-speed electric bikes. Priced at Rs37,400/ the initial launch is in UP followed by other cities in the country. E-Spirit, christened as the bikes rides out, the vehicle will meet the norms of environment protection and the budget of the buyers.
With the single charge, the vehicle will run upto 65km at a maximum speed of 45km/hour. The company seeks VAT exemption from the UP government on the grounds of environment pollution safety. 11 governments have offered VAT exemption for this vehicle in the country.
Ultra Motor Company has launched two new electric scooters in the Indian market. The Scooters Ultra Fun and Ultra Shakti are low speed models, which do not require any licence to run and are fitted with 250W motors and are priced between Rs 28,300 and Rs 31,900 (ex-showroom, Delhi).
While Ultra Shakti is designed for hilly terrains, Ultra Fun is easy to ride because of its height, size and weight and targetted at women among others. UMC has a retail network of over 175 exclusive dealerships across 17 states and in over 130 cities in the country.
