Honda’s Making A Worthy Hero Splendor Plus Rival

The company has officially confirmed that it will launch a motorcycle in the low-end commuter segment soon

Honda India recently revealed its plans for the future, which includes multiple EV offerings as well as flex-fuel upgrades to its existing lineup. Besides these, the company also announced that it will be launching a motorcycle in the low-end commuter segment. Expect Honda to launch the bike by the end of the year.

In the official press release, Honda says, “The new offering will bring a safer & reliable daily commute for its customers.” It will likely be a 100cc bike, something along the lines of the Hero HF 100. Honda currently offers the CD110 Dream, but at Rs 66,033, it is pretty expensive for what at the end of the day is a barebones bike. So it will be important for Honda to keep the pricing extremely competitive. 

The 100-110cc commuter motorcycle segment is extremely price sensitive, and lately, the massive fuel price hikes and surges in commodity and raw material prices have impacted rural buyers the most. And since most of the market share in the commuter segment comes from rural areas, the overall two-wheeler sales have been severely impacted. In fact, in FY 2021-22, the total two-wheeler sales plummeted to a ten-year low. Honda also had the Dream range of motorcycles to achieve its dream of being the number one in the commuter segment, but sadly, due to their high pricing it just remained a dream. 

Honda will not only have to keep its upcoming commuter bike’s price competitive but will have to ensure it is feature-packed as well, considering the country’s best-selling low-end commuter bike, the Hero Splendor Plus, already gets its share of goodies like a start-stop system.

And if Honda were to play in the 110cc segment, it could bring in something along the lines of the Honda Shine 110, as the Shine sub-brand is already well-established in the commuter segment and it would be easy for Honda to cash in on the brand recognition. 

Cracking the commuter segment is going to be difficult for Honda as the manufacturer isn’t particularly known for keeping its products competitively priced. Honda will have to keep the price at around Rs 50,000 (ex-showroom) if it were to make any sizeable dent in the segment. But if it manages to strike the balance between affordability and quality, it could very well have a winner on its hands.