Honda is all set to increase its fleet of big bikes in India. It is going to introduce CBR 650F to India on 4 August this year. Of the more than a dozen motorcycle launches likely to happen this year from Honda, this will be its biggest machine. Other probables are CBR 300R, CBR 500R, 300F, 500F and some scooters.
Honda is at present number 2 in the two wheeler market in India, competing fiercely with Hero Moto, who is sitting on the top. Once upon a time, Hero was the partner of Honda in two wheeler production. While Hero is mass market leader, Honda is good both in simple, commuter two wheelers and bigger motorcycles.
CBR 650F is powered by a four cylinder engine pumping out 86 bhp power and 62 NM of torque. Its main rivals will be Ninja 650 from Kawasaki and TNT 600 from Benelli. Localisation level for CBR650F will be around 10 per cent and hence, price of this machine is not expected to be very competitive. It is expected to be more than Rs. 7,00,000 on road. That kind of price tag will be a negative as Ninja 650 is quite attractive in terms of price.
Honda had announced in October last year that it will start making the CBR 650F in India, which will allow the company to price the bike competitively. However, Honda is yet to finalise the facility where it will manufacture the bike. The bookings for this machine are now officially open with a booking amount of Rs. 50,000. This will be sold initially at 20 dealerships across the country but all the colours will not be available as Honda intends to start with only one colour. Depending on the market reaction, other colours will be introduced.
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