Honda To Launch New Scooter With BSIV Engine

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) will launch a new scooter with an engine meeting Bharat Stage IV emission norms, as well as with the auto headlamp on feature, senior HMSI officials told media persons at an interaction. The scooter will be the first from HMSI meeting these two requirements. The government has given a deadline of 31st March 2017 for all manufacturers to meet BSIV emission regulations and also introduce the auto headlamp on feature, which is essentially an 'always-on' headlight.

All two wheeler models from 1st April 2017 will need to meet BSIV regulations and also have the auto headlamp on feature. No further details have been revealed about the scooter yet, but HMSI officials say the scooter could well be launched as early as later this month.

"It will be launched very soon and what it is, is a surprise, so wait for the launch. We can't say anything more at this stage," said Yadvinder Guleria, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India.

Honda introduced the BSIV compliant CB Shine recently

The Honda Activa, HMSI's largest selling two wheeler model, is still being manufactured at the company's plants and rolling out of the assembly line. To a question whether the existing stock of scooters will be sold out by the March 31 deadline, Guleria said Honda is working closely with dealerships to sell off all existing inventory of scooters.

"We are well prepared to meet the March 31 deadline and all our products across the board will be updated with BSIV ready engines and AHO," added Guleria.

HMSI also launched the new Honda CB Shine with BSIV engine and auto headlamp on feature to mark the 50th lakh CB Shine. The changes in the BSIV engine aren't major but include changes to the carburettor, the exhaust system and settings in the catalytic convertor. The engine displacement, power output remains the same. What remains to be seen is whether the new scooter will be a completely new product or just an update with the necessary changes.