Honda 2Wheelers India has revealed that the brand has now crossed the 1.5 crore units’ mark since its inception in 2001 in the South Indian market. The Japanese motorcycle company has claimed that it added 75 lakh customers in 5 years as opposed to the initial 75 lakh customers which took almost 15 years. The Southern India market consists of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry and union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Honda mentions Karnataka is the largest contributor to sales of its products. In fact, in Karnataka, every third new two-wheeler purchased is a Honda. Among all the products, the evergreen Activa, Shine and Dio are the best-sellers. Honda is slowly getting into the premium motorcycle segment with the launch of its BigWings lineup of products. Currently, there is one BigWing Topline and five BigWings showrooms in the Southern India market, with more to come up in the near future. As of now, there are a total of 6 products under the BigWing brand name including, Gold Wing, CBR650R, CB1000R, CBR Fireblade, African Twin and the recently launched H’ness CB350 which has already been sold 10,000 units in just 3 months from its launch. Honda has also upgraded its lineup to comply with the BS-6 emissions norm and the current range consists of CD 110 Dream, Livo, SP 125, Shine, Unicorn, X-Blade, and Hornet 2.0.
The company is here to stay in the region which is evident from the developments that they are doing. In 2013, Honda started its third manufacturing plant in Narsapura, Karnataka which has resulted in the generation of jobs and opportunities for the localities. The company has also started road and safety awareness programs through its 4 traffic-training parks located in Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy. Along with this Honda has also set up 4 Skill Development and Enhancement Centers which are empowering the youth in the region with job-oriented technical skills and knowledge. Honda has also focussed on a lot of CSR activities especially in the areas of women empowerment, healthcare, rural education and more.