New details on Honda's Royal Enfield competitor emerge - Report
Honda is the second largest two-wheeler maker in India.
Honda’s plan to bring a new middleweight motorcycle was confirmed in March 2017 by Mr Noriaki Abe, the then CEO of Asian Honda Motor Co Ltd. A report in MoneyControl has revealed new details about the motorcycle. The bike can be expected to launch in 2020.
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The said motorcycle will not be the Honda Rebel and include significant inputs from Honda India’s R&D division which recently developed their second production two-wheeler, the Honda Cliq.
The report cites an anonymous source who said:
Even globally Honda does not have a direct answer to the product range and category that Royal Enfield has to offer. But we need to find a solution and we are working on that. In the US and Thailand Honda has something like the cruiser but those would not be an ideal fit as a challenge. What we are looking for is something on the lines of the Ducati Scrambler, something that carries a similar DNA. But again that’s a product kind that we are not familiar with and we are working on it. We should be out with a product of that kind by say 2020.
The source adds that though Honda has no experience working with this type of motorcycle, it could have the design lines of the Ducati Scrambler.
Royal Enfield sells nearly 60,000 units a month in India, and the company’s volumes are growing every year. The enviable growth has been attracting attention no doubt. The Bajaj Dominar 400, which was launched in December 2017, is an indirect competitor to Royal Enfield’s enviable market share.
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Although not officially confirmed, the new Honda product can be expected in South East Asian markets as well.
[Source: MoneyControl]