Honda Two-Wheelers Targets No 1 Spot

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is aiming to become the No 1 two-wheeler brand in the country by 2020. Minoru Kato, President and CEO of HMSI has said that Honda intends to become the No 1 in two-wheeler volumes and it's a target which the company aims to achieve by 2020. Honda is the leader in automatic scooter sales in India, and as the company consolidates its position in the scooter segment, the immediate focus is also on strengthening Honda's network in rural India.

"We have a basic strategy, a basic direction, to strengthen both the automatic scooter and motorcycle segments. Our market share in the scooter segment is more than 50 per cent, 59 per cent to be precise, but in the motorcycle segment, our market share is still very low - less than 20 per cent. We need to focus on both, because in scooters also, we need to think about the future, because competitors will also look at the scooter segment. So, we need to maintain our market share and we need to improve our market share. Thanks to infrastructure getting better, customers' income levels getting better, we can expect the market share and volumes of the scooter segment to increase as well," said Kato.

Minoru Kato, President and CEO, HMSI is optimistic about Honda taking the top spot in the two-wheeler industry

"Still, the motorcycle segment has huge volumes, and our market share is still very low, especially in rural areas, we need to expand and strengthen our sales and service network. We have strong intentions to become No 1, both quality-wise and volumes-wise, and of course, customer satisfaction. Depending on the market situation and our competitors' strategy, it is possible to become No 1 by 2020," Kato added.

Also Read: Karnataka Plant Becomes Honda's Largest Two-Wheeler Plant In The World

Honda's two-wheeler plant in Narsapura, near Bengaluru, is the company's largest two-wheeler plant in the world, with an annual production capacity of 24 lakh two-wheelers. Currently, the Narsapura factory produces Honda Activa and Honda Dio scooters, but it's a flexible assembly line and motorcycles such as Honda Dream Yuga, Honda Livo and Honda CB Shine are also produced at the Narsapura plant. Kato was talking to CarandBike on the sidelines of the fourth assembly line inauguration at the Narsapura plant.

Also Read: Honda Planning New 300-400 cc motorcycle

Hero MotoCorp is still the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer by volume. In July 2017, Hero sold over 6 lakh two-wheelers, and for the third time in a row in as many months, Hero crossed 6 lakh sales volumes in a single month. Honda comparatively, is just behind Hero, selling over 5 lakh two-wheelers in July. And the gap between sales volumes of the two former partners is slowly decreasing. Honda's strength is the increasing affinity towards automatic scooters in India, led by the bestselling Honda Activa. Hero though enjoys an advantage in the rural market, largely dominated by commuter motorcycles.