New Delhi : Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday globally unveiled a 350 cc bike, H’ness CB350, marking its entry into the growing mid-sized motorcycle segment in the country.
The bike comes with a BS-VI compliant petrol engine, and would be sold from the company’s ‘Big Wing’ sales network.
The model would be available in two variants — Deluxe and Deluxe Pro, with ex-showroom price expected to start around Rs 1.9 lakh.
“This is a completely new product from Honda’s globally renowned CB range and would be priced around Rs 1.9 lakh,” HMSI Managing Director, President & CEO Atsushi Ogata told reporters.
The company has already started taking bookings of the model on its website and Big Wing outlets, he added.
Ogata said the company is looking at expanding Big Wing sales network across the country.
“By the end of the fiscal, we aim to have around 50 such dealerships across the country,” he noted.
Ogata said the company took insights from Indian riders for developing the bike.
“To this end, the latest technologies are generously reflected in its nine new patent applications. Today, we are proud to usher in a new motorcycling culture in the mid-size segment with this global unveiling of H’ness CB350,” he added.
The bike, which comes with over 90 per cent localisation, would be manufactured at HMSI’s Manesar plant.
The company said it would focus on catering to the Indian market first and would later focus on exporting it to other markets.
“It is BS-VI compliant and thus can be exported. We would be speaking to our network in other countries for exports, but as every country has different set of regulations, it is going to take some time,” Ogata said.
HMSI Director Sales and Marketing Yadvinder Singh Guleria said the company would further expand its big bike portfolio in the country.
“This is just the beginning. We will also come up with riders club and other activities for our customers,” he noted.
Guleria said the company had been keenly following the mid-sized bike segment in the country for some time now.
“The mid-size bike segment offers totally new potential for us. It is a growing space with people going for fun riding and long road trips,” he added.
With H’ness CB350, HMSI would now be competing primarily with Royal Enfield which sells models in the mid-size bike segment.
H’ness CB350 comes with various features like smartphone voice control system, alloy wheels, engine start/stop function, among others.
“H’ness CB350, proudly takes forward the rich legacy of Honda’s CB DNA and provides the joy of riding through a wide range of situations like daily use in the city or long road trips,” Guleria said. (AGENCIES)
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