We all know that India, in a bid to keep pace with the western world in fighting pollution, has decided to skip an intermediate stage and jump directly to BS6 emission standards from the current BS4 norm. The significant leap will come at a cost for the customers as automakers are required to make extensive technical upgrades to meet the stringent norms that will come in to effect from April 2020.
Owing to this effect, the overall two wheeler cost is expected to shoot up by 10-20% and this means, OEMs will be picky with the current products that will receive investment for the upgrade. The product attrition will be noticeable especially with market leaders Hero Motocorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) since they have extensive portfolios including a handful of sales duds.
According to Moneycontrol, HMSI is not keen on upgrading its entire portfolio to BS6 emission norms. The report also says that, in the light of recent sales performances, the Honda Navi and Cliq are most likely to be shown the door.
With the Honda Navi, the Japanese two wheeler brand made a bold attempt at addressing the needs of young urban commuters. The moped is essentially clubbed the best of both scooter and motorcycle worlds to offer a fun little package. However, the Navi which is priced at INR 45,300 (ex-showroom, New Delhi) didn’t quite click with the target audience. The monthly sales performance has been dropping exponentially and in December 2018, the moped had no takers at all.
Similarly, the Cliq which attempts to popularize scooters in rural market has also been dealt with indifference by prospective customers. Despite priced INR 10,000 cheaper than the Honda’s immensely popular Activa, the Cliq only managed to clock a little over 1,000 units a month till August 2018 and it plunged below 200 units in October and never recovered.
It is interesting to note that both Navi and Cliq share their 110 cc engine with the Activa which has been setting HMSI’s cash counter ringing with average monthly sales of 2.5 million units! While the Navi is mostly likely to face an end without replacement, Minoru Kato, president and chief executive, HMSI, reportedly hinted that the Cliq could emerge in a different form.
