Honda CB350 achieves 10k sales milestone – It comes just days before the launch of new variant of the classic roadster
Honda took its own sweet time to establish a proper presence in India’s medium displacement segment with a market-specific product. However, things are now moving at a brisk pace. The Honda CB350 retro classic roadster surpassed 10,000 unit milestone in a relatively short period even with limited number of BigWing outlets across the country. The milestone achievement comes just days ahead of the planned variant extension.
Honda CB350 sales
Since 21st October 2020 when the deliveries commenced, the CB350 has managed to clock 10,000 unit sales in just 3 months. Speaking about the motorcycle, Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd., revealed that there are order backlogs in several cities and the company is working at the backend to reduce the waiting period. He also added that Honda is in the process of expanding its BigWing premium motorcycle dealership network to more cities in the months to come.
While the sales figure is no where near what its primary rival, Royal Enfield Classic, has been managing on a monthly basis despite being at the end of its life cycle, the CB350 is certainly a bright prospect for Honda.
Honda CB350 RS launching soon
Honda recently teased what looks like a cafe racer variant of the CB350 which is to be launched in India on 16th of February. We learnt that the new motorcycle will be called the Honda CB350 RS. From what is already revealed, the new variant’s styling is in-line with the Japanese brand’s RS lineup of retro-classic motorcycles.
The CB350 RS will be a sportier alternative to the regular model with black accents replacing chrome treatments, and a new taillight and empennage. We can also expect different colour themes and a slightly tweaked riding position (read new handlebars) to further differentiate it from regular CB350.
As far as specifications are concerned, we don’t expect to see any drastic changes. The 348 cc single-cylinder, air-cooled engine developed specifically for our market will continue to power the motorcycle. In its current guise, the motor is good for 21 hp and 30 Nm of torque, and comes paired with a 5-speed transmission. We expect the Honda CB350 RS to have identical performance figures.
Outlook
The launch of new variant, increment in production capacity and expansion of BigWing dealership network would bring in significant incremental sales for Honda’s neo-classic platform. Given the popularity, we expect the company to dish out interesting variant extensions like cafe racer, scrambler, special editions, etc., at regular intervals.
With Royal Enfield gearing up to overhaul its widely acclaimed 350 cc portfolio with new exciting products, the competition in this space is set to get very intense in the short term. It is all good news for prospective customers.