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mach9...Even though it seems cruel, big bike and car manufacturers would be looking at only those segments where they can generate reasonable profits. I was looking at an article in Mint today (or yest) and most car and bike manufacters are not doing well. Flat sales or reducing sales compared to last year in India and things do not seem to be getting any better. I have had arguments before on this topic and most bike entusiasts should understand that the number of 250cc or above bikes sold in India is in a very small minority and hence that will not be the area where they will concentrate a lot.
This is a normal viewpoint.. but also remember in product strategy, especially where there are 2 drastically different segments being targetted, the premium segment also has a larger profit margin for manufacturers. Don't let the volumes be the only primary metric. In the premium segment, it's the margins that compensate. So the BE on the product cannot be held to the same yardstick as the volumes game. I specialise in corporate strategy
While i could write further on why it makes a lot of sense for Honda to wrest back the initiative with a complete strategy for the brand as a whole, I'm just disappointed with their staid thinking in chasing after the volumes game first (and also repeatedly.. as they've had the Unicorn around for a long time). It is after all a segment which already has over 5 leading products targeting the same crowd. Honda are only trying to carve out a further bit of the pie. At the price point of 75K it's unlikely their strategy will take away anything from the segments below or above this range. Therefore they are only set head on against the other bikes that are not only well established in this bracket but also have far better marketing and product support. Honda's spares and service stories are nothing to be raved about.
In fact, several are already complaining the outgoing CB Dazzler was a much better looking albeit a similar spec and performing one.. that only makes the job of the new model much more tougher to retain the target market share AND improve on it.
Honda 2 wheelers have learned nothing from the mess their car division is in India due to the wrong pricing and product strategy. If anything, it would serve Honda well to analyse the performance and market share of the new Pulsar 200 / KTM Duke 200 and the R15. Then look closely at the segmentation between the 75k to the 110K and also the 110k to 200K markets.
Premium streetbikes and the 200cc+ segment is wide open in India. As a nation, the market is now maturing towards proper bikes and bigger capacity VFM models. It's an unexplored market to a certain extent and will not garner numbers outright.. but the opportunity is right there. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
