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Will Hero Honda Become The Next Indo-Japanese Joint Venture Break-Up Story?

Deepak — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:52:11 +0000

The news about Honda to sell its 26% stake in Hero Honda has become talk of the town in Indian two wheeler industries. According to sources close to this deal said that Munjal family led by Brijmohanlal Munjal will buy the 26% stake from Honda. The news, broken first by ET newspaper’s business channel. As per current market valuation Honda’s 26% stake is valued at over Rs.9,000 Crores. Hero Honda joint venture was formed in 1984 between Indian Hero group and Japanese Honda. It is one of the most successful joint venture in the world.

According to sources there are series of off market transactions will take place to buy the stake. Munjal family has formed SPV (Special Purpose vehicle) to buy the stake. They will first buy the stake through SPV and later on pledge this share to the bank to avail finance. The private equity option is also there. Honda will sell its stake at discounted price than current price.

The management of both the companies, though, strongly denied it. A Honda Motors spokesman told Bloomberg News that the company had no plans to sell. A statement issued by the Hero group on Tuesday after reports first surfaced of a possible Honda Motor exit surfaced, said, “The news report is incorrect and speculative. We have already conveyed that the Hero group and Honda Motor have for years enjoyed very cordial and fruitful relations, and there has been no change in the relationship in any manner.”

There are lots of differences prevail between Hero and Honda regarding royalty and spare parts. Honda wants to increase royalty from the sales while Hero does not want to increase royalty as majority of sales coming from old model splendor and passion. Honda also forcing Hero to source spare parts from HMSI (Honda Motor Scooters & India), while hero group does not want to do that due to its well developed vendor base.

Apart from this the fact can’t be denied that HMSI has very negligible presence in motorcycle segment. It wants to increase its market share in India but due to joint venture with Hero Honda it is not able to do it aggressively. India is second fastest growing automobile market in the world. Currently Hero Honda has more than 50% market share in Indian Domestic motorcycle industry.

This is not a new story for Indo-Japanese ventures. The same story had been seen with TVS-Suzuki and Kinetic-Honda joint venture. In fact there are lots of similarity between Hero Honda and Kinetic Honda joint venture. Let’s have look to TVS-Suzuki and Kinetic Honda joint Venture.

Kinetic Honda

In 1985 kinetic tied up with Honda to form Kinetic Honda Motors ltd. with both the partners holding an equal stake of 28.56%. The joint venture was running successfully till 1997. The actual problem started in 1998 when Kinetic Honda reported loss of 6 crore rs in the first quarter of 1998. There were lots differences were prevailing between Hondas and kinetic over issues like introduction of new models, advertising expenditure, marketing strategies, etc. Eventually Honda decided to close the matter and called kinetic officials to Japan in December 1998. Honda made an offer to Kinetic- either they will buy their 51% stake or Honda would buy out its 19% stake.

Meanwhile the rumor was prevailing about Honda to divest its stake in Kinetic. Both Honda and Kinetic were quick to deny rumors of a split, though reports of Kinetic quietly raising resources to buy out Honda’s stake kept surfacing. In the same month Kinetic bought Honda’s stake at Rs 45 per share half of the market price at a total cost of Rs. 35 crore. Kinetic also signed an agreement with them for continuing to manufacture and sell the existing Kinetic Honda models. Honda also agreed to continue providing technical know-how in return of royalty and technical fees from Kinetic.

After this deal Kinetic Honda was renamed as Kinetic motors ltd. Kinetic knows that if it has to survive without Honda, Dealer base and new product would be the key. Kinetic also started to manufacturer motorcycles but eventually, Kinetic was failed to survive in the competitive market. Later on the scooter business was sold to Mahindra group. It’s now known as Mahindra two wheelers.

After stake sale in August 1999, Honda established its wholly-owned subsidiary HMSI (Honda Motor Scooter India Ltd.) in India with an initial capacity of one lakh units per year. Today it has 48% market share of scooter market in India. It’s aiming to sell 1.6 million units in current fiscal year 2010-11.

TVS Suzuki

Suzuki entered India through the TVS Suzuki joint venture, originally incorporated as Indian Motorcycles Pvt. Ltd in 1982. In the 90’s when competition was intensifying in Indian motorcycle market TVS approached Suzuki for more funds and technical support. Instead of providing more technical support and funds Suzuki started creating road blocks in the management. Finally, in September 2001, TVS group and Suzuki Motor Corporation announced their break up. TVS bought the 25.97% stake of Suzuki for Rs. 9 crore increasing its stake to 58.43%. TVS also ended the technical license agreement with Suzuki Motor before the maturity date. The move benefitted in terms of royalty payment to Suzuki as it has 30,000 booking orders for its bike TVS Victor.

Post stake sale TVS Suzuki was renamed as TVS motors Company. The company started focusing on Research & development as its key to survive in the business. TVS Motor won the Deming Application prize in 2002, becoming the first and only Indian two-wheeler company to win the award given to companies that do outstanding work in the field of Quality Management. It is considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious quality awards Today it’s able to produce bike like Apache and scooter like Wego.
On the other hand according to mandatory lock in period of three years Suzuki Motor Corporation was not able to enter into Indian two wheeler segment till 2005. In 2006 Suzuki Motorcycle Indian Ltd was established. The company is rapidly expanding in Indian two wheeler market.

Coming back to Hero Honda what could be scenario if Hero will buy the stake from Honda?

Hero Honda will able to save Royalty which accounts for 2.5 to 3% of total Sale. The saving in royalties could well be directed towards R & D.
Although Hero Honda’s success contributed to Honda’s technology, the fact can’t be denied that the Hero group’s marketing acumen and knowledge of the consumer has also played a big role in the company’s success. The company has well established brand and distribution centre.
Hero Honda’s technical agreement with Honda will expire in 2014 so the company still has 3 years time to build its own R & D.
It will result in more aggressive HMSI as Honda will able to directly compete with Hero Honda
There are concerns about the ability of Hero to build product development facilities – like Bajaj Auto and TVS – in a short span of time. On the other hand it will take time Honda to build facilities in India. These both the factors could well serve to the competition.
What will happen with Hero Honda’s new product line after 2014 is still a question.

As still nothing has been confirmed officially by any company let’s wait and watch.

- Mahavir Kothari

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Will Hero Honda Become The Next Indo-Japanese Joint Venture Break-Up Story?

Yamaha SZ – Quick First Look

Deepak — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:30:54 +0000

Very recently Yamaha launched the SZ based on the existing FZ’s 153cc engine, which they initially unveiled during the Auto Expo held at New Delhi earlier in the year. Contrary to the target audience of FZ, SZ targets the entry level 150cc crowd, premium 125/135cc crowd and youngsters who want an uber cool looking bike at an affordable price.

To keep a tab on costs, Hero Honda puts the same engine under different clothes adding a few stickers here and there, Bajaj installs different engines on similar looking clothes, Yamaha did the good thing of redesigning the skin of this bike afresh which makes it look a very fresh entry in the market. We take a quick look to analyze what exactly does the bike has to offer.

Differently Tuned Engine: The same oversquare 153cc engine which does duty on the FZ has been plonked on this bike albeit under a different state of tune to prevent cannibalization. The newly tuned engine now produces 12.1PS of power output in comparison to FZ’s 14S. However, both the bikes retain their low and mid range power concentration peeking at 7500 rpm.

Torque figures speak a little different tune though. Maximum torque produced by SZ’s mill @ 12.8Nm is lesser than FZ by almost 1.2Nm, however it peeks at 1500 rpm earlier at 4500 rpm compared to 6000 of FZ, which tells that Yamaha has paid a special emphasis on making this bike a very agile and flickable bike through city traffic.

Bigger Fuel Tank: At the face of it, FZ boasts off a huge-looking bulbous tank. But in reality, SZ has a larger tank with 14 liters of capacity compared to 12 liters for FZ. The tank seems to be pretty well sculpted with good knee recess and matching tank extensions on SZ-X. SZ 150 comes without these tank scoops.

Different Dimensions: Incidentally, SZ is longer and higher than FZ with dimensions in L*B*H (in mm) measuring 2050*730*1100 for SZ and 1970*770*1085 for FZ. Despite increase in length Yamaha has kept SZ’s wheelbase 15mm shorter at 1320mm compared to 1335mm for FZ.

Reduced Weight: Due to the shedding of excess flab, SZ has lost around 3 kgs of weight. The bike weighs 132kgs (kerb)

Increased Saddle Height: Saddle height has increased to a high 802mm where FZ’s is 790mm. This might make it slightly difficult for people of lesser heights to ground their feet firmly on the tarmac but the reduced weight might negate this effect.

Dual Shock Absorbers: As expected, gone are the fat front telescopics and Monocross of the FZ and enter normal thinner telescopics upfront and conventional dual shocks at the rear.

Thinner Tires: To reduce costs and provide better fuel efficiency, Yamaha has reverted back to conventional thinner tires. Front is 2.75” while the rear is 100/90, both 17 inch. This would also reduce ownership costs as these tires cost low and are available everywhere along with boosting performance as well.

Inclusion of a Kick: While the SZ 150 comes with a kick starter added, the SZ X continues to follow the FZ trend: does without a kick and depends solely on the electric starter.

Variants: Similar to the FZ brand, Yamaha would be offering the SZ in two variants: the base variant SZ 150 and the premium one, SZ-X.

Colors: The base variant SZ 150 is offered in two color options, plane jane Red and Black while the premier variant SZ-X has 3 sparkling color options to choose from: Red, Black and Metallic Grey which are also enhanced by a well done sticker job.

Bigger Drum Brakes: SZ will sport bigger 150mm drum brakes on the front along with conventional 130mm at the rear. But unfortunately, to keep costs under control both the variants of SZ are offered only with drum brakes for front as well as rear, disc brakes is not even an option currently, however, we are fairly confident of an inclusion of a third variant with Disc Brakes (or an inclusion in the current SZ-X) at an added premium.

Gear Shifter: Against the only-toe shifter on FZ, SZ comes with the conventional Heel & Toe shifter for ease of use. Also it is reasonably rearset providing an optimum mix of sporty and commuterish seating posture.

Covered Chain: The sporty open chain gives way to a completely covered chain, providing respite to frequent chain maintenance issues.

Analogue Console: The front console looks fairly conventional and is completely analogue. White colored speedo calibrated upto 140kmph, odometer and a neutral ‘N’ light integrated into one dial; the remaining part of the console is occupied by a huge fuel gauge along with the regular tell-tale lights.

Price: Yamaha has managed to play the price game pretty well as both the bikes are placed at shattering price tags. The base variant SZ 150 is priced at Rs.49,000 and the premium variant SZ-X is priced at Rs.52,000 (both ex showroom Delhi). This indicates that on road price of the bike would be lesser than 60k almost everywhere in the country which is lesser by almost 8-10k than the existing 150cc bikes.

This move indicates Yamaha’s intentions of becoming an aggressive player in the market. SZ, at its current price point seems to be a fantastic bargain with the kind of offerings it has in store. SZ targets all bikes from 100cc to 150cc with the main target being the premium 125cc segment and Discover 150 from Bajaj. We will try to take the bike for a thorough test drive as soon as we get an opportunity and come with a detailed roadtest report. Till then we keep you occupied with this first look.

- Saad Khan

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Yamaha SZ – Quick First Look

Petrol Prices Set To Hike Again

Deepak — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:00:40 +0000

And if you though they are reasonably high, Petrol prices are set to get another hike ‘soon’. According to The Hindu, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry is considering another rise in petrol prices. Though, the increase might not be significantly high but anything in the quantum of Rs 1-2 is being considered. The ministry would decide upon the same after the monsoon session of Parliament in the first week of September.

The average crude oil prices are around 81$ per barrel and if they do not soften in due coarse of time, the quantum of increase might increase to a bigger number. This further creates a big concern to the middle class and an uproar is expected in the Parliament in case this decision is announced.

- Saad Khan

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Petrol Prices Set To Hike Again

Ownership Review Contest: Win a Honda CBR 1000RR Toy Bike!

Deepak — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:19:20 +0000

Dear BikeAdvice Readers, Here we are with another hot contest. All you have to do is write a review of the bike that you own and send it to bikeadvice.in@gmail.com . We will publish the articles/reviews in the blog and the article with the maximum number of comments will take home this cool toy bike!

Rules of the contest:

Your review should be minimum 500 words in length.
Your review should include at least 1 photo.
The content should be unique (no where else published online)
It should help other’s make a buying decision… so include the pros and cons too!

The contest ends on September 30th and the winner will be announced on October 5th. We will send this toy bike to you via courier. All the best!

- Deepak

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Ownership Review Contest: Win a Honda CBR 1000RR Toy Bike!

Hero Honda Refreshes Super Splendor

Deepak — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:53:50 +0000

In typical Hero Honda ‘ishtyle’, India’s largest manufacturer has revamped their 125cc offering, Super Splendor with brand new and refreshed graphics along with a few cosmetic upgrades. Super Splendor is one of the very few models from the company which did not click in the market to the tune Hero Honda would have liked probably.

Ever since its launch, Super Splendor has been a very moderate performer majorly attributed to the USP-less demeanor it possesses. To try and spell a new round of fresh air without wasting much money and resources, Hero Honda has done what it does regularly with fair conviction!

According to what we can identify from the pics posted on the company’s official website (yes, it’s uploaded), the bike has gone the following changes:

NEW GRAPHICS: A new set of vibrant graphics ensure that the fresh feel on the bike is reloaded.
NEW FRONT FAIRING: The front bikini fairing has gone a pretty weird change; it has been elongated with a probable hollow ‘smiling’ shape: Looks a little out of place.
All BLACK THEME: The bike now wears the all black theme with the engine, front fork and tyres painted black.
CHANGED GLOVE BOX: A small horizontal chrome dash has been placed across the tool box over the engine.
REDESIGNED VISOR: Front visor has also been redesigned to complement the new theme.
CHANGED REAR: The bike’s rear tail light has been altered slightly to make it curvier.
METER CONSOLE: Meter console has been given a fresh treatment. It consists of a huge speedometer (odometer + tripmeter) which takes the center stage, separate smaller pods for fuel indicator and tell-tale lights.
NEW ALLOY WHEELS: The bike now adorns new set of alloy wheels as well.
PRICE: The new bike is priced at Rs 45,950 ex showroom Delhi

Features:

Super Splendor produces 9bhp (@ 7k rpm) of maximum power output along with a peak torque of 10.35Nm (@ 4k rpm) from its 124.7cc 4 stroke air cooled ‘Quantum Core’ engine.
The bike looks conservative but symbolizes an optimum mix of power and fuel efficiency along with impeccable durability.
The new version costs Rs 52,117 on Road Pune and is available for sale.
The bike comes in a single variant with drum brakes and self start as standard.
Super Splendor also comes with body colored Rear View Mirrors
The bike is offered in 7 colored options: Candy Blazing Red, Vibrant Blue, Cloud Silver, Black with Flery Red, Black with Electric Purple, Graphite Black, and Heavy Grey. Amongst these Black with Flery Red looks the most striking which also comes with a red colored grab rail different from the regular black colored on other colors.

So how many of you like the new Super Splendor? For more information, visit Super Splendor Official Website

- Saad Khan

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Hero Honda Refreshes Super Splendor

Bajaj Discover 150 – Pint Sized Powerhouse: A Comprehensive Road Test

Deepak — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:19:21 +0000

Bajaj has tried almost every permutation and combination with the Discover brand with engine sizes ranging from 94cc, 112cc, 125cc, 135cc and now the entry in the 150cc segment. With sales hovering over 1 lakh units per month, current Discover stable, comprising of Discover 100 in the 100cc segment and Discover 150 in the entry level 150cc segment, seems to be the most settled and has also earned the distinction of being the second largest selling brand in India only after Hero Honda’s Splendor which sells nearly 2 lakh units per month.

The major contributor to the complete sales tally is, obviously, the smaller 100cc variant of the bike but the 150cc sibling is also making its presence felt, more after a pan India presence now, with monthly sales of over 20,000 units per month. So, does the Discover 150 packs in enough juice to become one of the most successful entry level 150cc bikes in the country especially after the competition tightening its grips. Let’s take a ride to yield out the truth.

Engine And Transmission:

Discover 150 comes equipped with a 4 stroke air cooled, single cylinder, 2 valve engine along with Bajaj’s trademark DTS-i technology, displacing 144.8 cubic capacity of volume. The engine, as we heard is based on the XCD 135 platform, is capable of producing 13PS of power output peaking at an early 7500 rpm. Maximum torque available for use is an impressive 12.75Nm at 5500 rpm. Just for the sake of comparison, the 135cc version produced 13.1PS @ 8500rpm with the twirling force of 11.88Nm maxing at 6500 rpm. Company’s own 135cc engined Pulsar 135 produces 13.5PS of maximum power @ 8500 rpm and peak torque of 11.4Nm @ 6500 rpm.

If observed closely, the displayed numbers reveal a lot about the characteristic of Discover 150. The bike produces slightly lesser power output than both the above bikes (which is nulled by 121kg of weight compared to 133kg of Discover 135 and 122kg of Pulsar 135) but the torque output is greater by around a complete Nm. More importantly, Discover 150 produces both its peak power and torque at 1000 rpm earlier to bless the bike with fantastic pulling power. Both the power and torque are concentrated towards the lower and mid range to enhance the in-city riding characteristics of the bike. With a lower weight, it is ensured that Discover doesn’t feel a laggard in any way despite it sporting a cheaper price tag.

The engine is mated with an all down 5 speed gearbox which is just decent. The gear change feel is nothing off beat but doesn’t disappoint either. Clutch made us remember the old Pulsar’s feel. Though it was not hard on the new bike but we expect it to adorn the slightly stiffer feel with time. But the impressive part was the very good spacing between gears. Gear ratios have been designed to concentrate and enhance the city driving aspects of the bike.

Truly speaking, we were a little surprised to see so much juice in the engine. The gearbox has been mated decently, but the torque (which works on a low weight) made us smile all the way. The bike pulled decently in 25kmph in 5th gear and with aplomb in anything over. Along with a pillion also, Discover 150 would be (we go to the extent of saying) one of the best bikes to be driven inside day to day traffics under this price tag. Power starts pouring in at early 2.5k rpm and the sweetest spot is the 5-7k rpm where the bike rides on its own tune. On the longer roads though, Discover 150 feels a little running out of breath at high rpms.

Engine & Transmission: 7.5/10

Styling And Instrumentation:

Discover 150 carries over the same looks of the smaller 100cc sibling and not the discontinued 135cc version, which is a little disappointing (and surprising) to see. Tank extensions which lend the bike sporty aggression also housing the side blinkers are no more along with a different looking silencer. Visual resemblance of this bike with the 100cc version is so much that only after seeing the ‘150’ decals at the rear panel ensure that the bike is the bigger version of the series. Apart from these and slightly different graphics (which go unnoticed), the bike looks absolutely similar to Discover 100.

The front remains the same bikini fairing with a bulged black colored visor. Side blinkers are tagged to the forks rather than forming a part of the fairing. Bajaj has placed a disc brake cover on the disc plate which is generally seen on moto-cross bikes, which however, remains a cosmetic add-on on this bike rather than a functional one. All black theme is carried forward with a good finish to the engine exterior. Alloy wheels, Electric starter, disc brakes, auto choke, ride control switch, DC electricals and LED tail lights are very welcome standard features on this bike which clearly reflects the seriousness of Bajaj with this bike. Rest all on the visual front is pretty plain jane and what one can expect from a budget 150cc bike.

Apart from simple styling, the bike sports a tachometer-less analogue console. Speedometer is calibrated till an optimistic 140kmph and is again basic in looks. Traditional speedometer and trip meter are housed in this console. The second dial, which generally houses a tachometer, accommodates a huge fuel gauge. Neutral ‘N’, battery charge indicator and side blinkers form the complete cluster. Battery is maintenance free 12V 7Ah along with 35 watt headlamps which provide near sufficient illumination in dark nights.

Switchgear has ample amount of buttons from horn, turn blinkers, upper-dipper and pass switch on the left side and electric starter, light switch and ride control switch on the right. Though, the buttons are slightly pointed, quality of plastics used is better than the competition and the feel from the buttons is also pretty good. Build quality of the bike is nothing out of the world but considering the price at which the bike is available, decent enough! Fit and finish is also typical Bajaj.

Style & Instrumentation: 7/10

Comfort And Handling:

Discover 150 sports a reasonably wide and commuter alike non-contoured seat which did accommodate our twin butts with ease but the problem with almost all Bajaj bikes is the hard seat which they come laden with. The compound used is hard enough to nut crack your buttocks under longer duration of continuous rides. Reasonably comfortable, we would say the bike is, on highways and pretty good inside cities. The bike comes equipped with a 100/90 wide rear tire. Ride quality is very good with very acceptable handling characteristics. The bike which we rode came equipped with 17 inch Eurogrips which, by no means are very sticky. Zappers from MRF might have aided to our confidence on road. Having said this, the bike due to its feather light weight feels very sprightly and alert inside stop-go traffic. And the complete geometry does support this responsive nature of the bike. Bajaj bikes have never been great at corners and Discover 150 keeps up with the tradition.

Ground clearance of 165mm also helps in keeping potholes and heavenly speed breakers away from kissing the bikes bottom. Feedback from the suspension is also pretty good on general rides but does sway the bike when put into hard corners. The commuter oriented rider-handlebar-footpeg geometry ensures that fatigue is kept at minimal without tiring your arms and thighs (sorry BUTTS!). Knee recess is again where Bajaj lacks, Discover being no exception. Due to lesser weight and ‘not so high s peed friendly design’, the bike doesn’t induce a very good level of confidence and feels a little nervous under anything over 90 kmph.

Comfort & Handling: 7/10

Performance And Braking:

This is one section which Bajaj boffins and fans would love to read. Engine’s agility and tendency to move forward is what we liked in particular about this bike. Such a low weight implies fantastic power to weight ratio of 107.43 PS/ton which along with handsome torque figures makes it feel as if the engine doesn’t have to lift anything and is always at ease. The concentration of both power and torque towards the low and mid range helps immensely in cities. A greater displacement also helps in running the engine unstressed and at ease, at all times.

The bike hits 70-80 kmph in no time but after that the rate of acceleration drops and takes its own sweet time to reach the 3 digit figure. From what we can accumulate from other sources, Discover 150 reaches 60kmph from standstill in lesser than 6 seconds and also goes onto clock a speedo indicated top speed of 115 kmph. The true story is echoed by the bikes in-gear roll ons which display the true use of good torque and power. With so much of torque to play with and so well sorted powerband, it just needs a gear change to carry a sudden maneuver successfully. Overtaking a huge truck also needs a little flick of the throttle and here you go zipping past. Impressive…definitely impressive!

Loaded with standard 240mm ‘covered’ disc brakes upfront and 130mm drums at the rear and with a kerb weight of 121kgs, the stopping distance is also kept minimal. Feeling from the front disc is also reasonably sharp and accurate. Brakes on Bajaj bikes tend to become a little spongy with time but we hope Discover 150 remains an exception.

Performance & Braking: 9/10

Mileage And Pricing:

Bajaj seems to have perfected this art of extracting fantastic mileage and competition killing pricing. A 150cc bike with regular specifications returning anything over 40kmpl is less, over 45kmpl is a norm, over 50kmpl is ‘let them coming’, over 55kmpl is ‘Ohh My God!’ and over 60kmpl is ‘are you insane!’. Discover 150 easily could be called as the most efficient 150cc bike in the market currently beating both GS150 and Unicorn by a fairly good margin, which till now enjoyed the cult status.

Discover 150 promises to be a very frugal companion and we expect the bike to return anything over 58-60kmpl for all what it does! However, there is a flip side to it as well. The tank capacity for this bike is only 8 liters which translates into a range of 460kms before the bike would completely go dry on fuel. Nonetheless, this bike is a city warhorse and such a range would ensure a complete fortnight of peace considering an average running of 30km per day.

Price to cc is this bikes forte and with an on road Pune price of Rs. 52,115, it doesn’t really get a bigger bumper than this. In the world where commuter 150ccs start from 64k and go all the way to 69k, Discover doesn’t find itself many competitors currently.

Mileage & Pricing: 9/10

BikeAdvice Verdict:

If you read our last section carefully, Discover 150 isn’t really placed as a competition to the existing 150cc bikes, in fact Bajaj wanted to target something else here. That ‘something else’ is the smaller segment ‘by cubic centimeters’ by offering a larger heart and all its characteristics along with fantastic fuel efficiency figures all at an on road price of 52k. Discover does just that at a price which sets new benchmarks in VFM preposition.

Discover 150 is offered in two colors, rather color tones: Black is standard as the base color with a difference of red and blue graphics. Black-Blue combo looks a little better than the Black-Red combo. We tried to find out which bikes really stand as its competition in the current market according to price, since it (price) is what decides ‘segment’ in India. Passion Plus Pro (@52k), Super Splendor (@ 53k), Glamour (@ 55-57k) from Hero Honda, CB Shine (@51-59k), CB Twister (@49-56k) from HMSI and the very recently launched SZ (which includes SZ 150 and SZ-X) from Yamaha. Ironically, Discover beats all the mentioned bikes in the engine specifications department by a big margin. So effectively, what you get by paying 52k is a bigger heart, much more power to ‘fun’ around, much more torque for that hassle free ride, almost similar fuel efficiency figures, a bike which would be better than all of the above mentioned bikes on almost all rides, be it the congested city zips or long highway runs.

Considering that Bajaj’s spares are also cheaper than the competition, the equation becomes even more one-sided now. To balance; things which you would not get are: exclusivity (and when did Bajaj offer exclusivity), great looks (ahh…same as the 100cc brother) and a big bike feel (seriously missing). We are also little skeptical of the typical niggling issues which Bajaj has been infamous for, more so, after considering the price point at which this bike is selling, inadvertently signaling cost cutting ‘somewhere’. We expect that ‘somewhere’ is not in the quality department. However, what it offers at 52k is really never offered in India till now. Though, its too early to predict anything since the bike is brand new in the market, but we do expect this bike to be a revelation and set new benchmarks in the market.

Around 16-17k cheaper than Pulsar 150, Discover 150 is for those who can’t afford the high sticker prices of 150cc bikes, their mileages are a big concern due to limited monthly pocket money but still want a high powered bike. Discover 150 will also find buyers from the 40 and above age group simple because of the simplicity in design which adheres to Indian mentality, plus a feather light weight will add a lot to the ease of handling, plus now the bike will also aid in pulling a 80 kilogram pillion wife.

Bikeadvice Overall Rating: 8/10

- Saad Khan

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Bajaj Discover 150 – Pint Sized Powerhouse: A Comprehensive Road Test

Indian Bikes August 2010 Sales Figures

Deepak — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:37:05 +0000

Hero Honda: Hero Honda total sales grew merely by 2.28% in august 2010 compare to august 2009 due to very high base effect. Total sales stood at 4,24,617 units in August 2010 compared to 4,15,137 units in August 2009. Pleasure has contributed more than 27,000 units.

This is the fourth consecutive month where company has recorded more than four lakhs dispatch. According to company officials the growth will maintain this trajectory in the coming months. The company also said that sales may grow at lower pace in second half of the year due to higher interest rates. Notably the company has installed capacity of 5.6 million units per annum with 3 manufacturing plants and it has goal of selling 5 million units in current fiscal up 8.7% from last year. The company is also looking for setting up 4th manufacturing plant.

Bajaj Auto: Bajaj Auto total sales grew by 54.58% in august 2010 compare to August 2009. Total sales for August 2010 stood at 3,29,364 units(Highest ever monthly sale) compared to 2,13,072 units in the August 2009. Motorcycles sales stood at 2,89,176 units in August 2010 up 56.50% compared to 1,82,441 units in August 2009. Domestic sales stood at 2,30,786 units up 67.35% compared to 1,37,908 units in August 2009. Exports stood at 98,578 units up 31.15% compared to 75,164 units in August 2009.

The Company has attributed this growth to its pulsar and discover brands. Sales of pulsar brand stood close to 83,000 units and discover brand stood at 1.27 lakhs units. The company also said that production constraints limited the sale. The company hopes to cross sale of 3 lakhs units of motorcycle in September 2010. The company has a goal of selling 4 million units in current fiscal. It is also working out possibilities for Tri-alliance with KTM and Kawasaki to share technology and production platform. A final decision on this alliance is expected to be taken by end of current year.

TVS Motors: TVS Motors total sales grew by 33.51% in august 2010 compare to August 2009. Total sales for August 2010 stood at 1,70,735 units (Highest ever monthly sale) compared to 1,27,875 units in the August 2009. Motorcycles sales stood at 66,574 units in August 2010 up 30.21% compared to 51,127 units in August 2009. Scooters sales stood at 40,913 units up 43.14% in August 2010 compare to 28,582 units in August 2009. Domestic sales stood at 1,48,081 units up 28.66% compared to 1,15,095 units in August 2009. Exports stood at 19,028 units up 61.98% compared to 11,747 units in August 2009. TVS recent launches Jive and Wego have received good response from market. The company aims to sell over 2 million units in this fiscal. The company is also looking to expand its installed capacity to 2.8 million units.

HMSI: HMSI total sales grew by 37.63% in august 2010 compare to August 2009. Total sales for August 2010 stood at 1,32,330 units compared to 96,149 units in the August 2009. Motorcycles sales stood at 56,659 units in August 2010 up 52.69% compared to 37,108 units in August 2009. Scooters sales stood at 75,671 units in August 2010 up 28.17% compared to 28,582 units in August 2009. The company is engaged in setting up its second manufacturing plant at Alwar in Rajashtan which will have installed capacity of 6 lakhs units per annum. The company is also planning to launch low cost bike which will be priced lower than the price of CB Twister.

Yamaha: Yamaha Motor total sales grew by 29.76% in August 2010 compared to August 2009. Total sales for August 2010 stood at 30,450 units compared to 23,466 units. Domestic sales for August 2010 stood at 22,672 units up 16.22% compared to 19,508 units in August 2009. Exports stood at 7,778 units up 96.51% compared to August 2009. The company is optimistic that its recent launches such as of SZ, SZ-X and YBR 125, will contribute to its growing sales numbers.

Suzuki Motorcycle: Suzuki Motorcycle India sales grew by 50.78% in August 2010 compared to August 2009. The company has sold 19,314 units in August 2010 compared to 12,809 units in August 2009. The company attributed its growth to the good response from its motorcycle GS150R and scooter Access125.

Mahindra Two Wheelers: Mahindra Two Wheelers sales grew by massive 278.65% in August 2010. The company had sold 15,165 units of scooters in August 2010 compared to 4,005 units in August 2009. Mahindra Two wheeler is overwhelmed by customer response and the trust people have shown in Mahindra brand. Just couple of months ago the company has crossed landmark of 1,00,000 units. The company has signed superstar Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador of their new set of two-wheelers, which are yet to be launched in the market

- Mahavir Kothari

This is an article from from: BikeAdvice.in - The Indian Bike Blog

Indian Bikes August 2010 Sales Figures