Ever since
Honda and Hero went their separate ways, Honda has been on fire. Honda
Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) closed 2014 with a bang as it
created many new benchmarks in the industry across the year.
Highlights of
Honda in 2014
Honda
registered a 25pc sales growth - more than double the domestic industry growth
of 12pc and sold over 28.24 lakh sales in 8 months, contributing 50pc to the
increase in the domestic 2-wheeler industry which meant that every minute,
eight new customers bought a Honda 2Wheeler with 19 million customers. Not only
did Honda breach the 500,000 mark in October, but also recorded highest single
day sales of 1.66 lakh units during the festive season.
For 2015, the
recently launched CB Unicorn 160 will be available starting 2015 January.
Overall brand Honda will make a sharp ascent with many new exciting product
launches. Expanding to meet customers demand more efficiently, Honda
inaugurated the world’s largest scooter plant in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, (its
fourth in the country) with committed investment of Rs. 1100cr.
On product
front, 3 new products, the Activa 125 was launched in April, CD 110 Dream in July,
the 40th Anniversary Goldwing in November and 3 upgrades were introduced in
2014 as the company cemented its leadership in the automatic scooter and 125cc
motorcycle segment with 55pc and 43pc market share respectively.
Honda has
always been known for its soft corner for safety, Honda and dealers responsibly
promoted road safety in India by successfully educating over 1 lac people at 6
traffic parks across India while spreading the message of road safety to 13,900
children and families in 6 cities.
New
initiative ‘Honda Dream Riding’ for females got an overwhelming response in New
Delhi with over 2500 registration for the same within one week time
Keita
Muramatsu – President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd.
said, “2014 marked a start of new era for Honda in India. We have a made a good
start… In 2015, Honda will excite Indian customers with more than 10 refreshed
models and all new products, starting from the CB Unicorn 160cc in January.
Aggressively making inroads in rural India and strengthening the Wing mark will
be the key focus.”