Honda to Assemble Bigger SportsBikes Locally, Following the CBR650F

Just a few days back, the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers has announced that they will be going to launch the newly showcased Honda CBR 650F in India, pretty soon in the coming year. The Honda CBR 650F was first being showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo, 2014 and along with the aforementioned notification; the expectations went high when the company says that the sports bike will get assembled locally, in the country. As of now, the firm is importing the sports bike as a CBU kit (Completely Build Unit), but for future, the Honda is planning to replace the CBU kit from the CKD units, as Completely Knocked Down.

Currently, the Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India is manufacturing all the commuter segment motorcycles locally, but according to the recent announcement, the Japanese giant is planning to assemble the bigger sports bike in the country itself. This consideration of the CKD units will attract less taxation as compared to the CBU units and will help making these super sports motorcycles to be available carrying an affordable price tag.

See Also: Honda CBR 300R

Keita Muramatsu, CEO and President of HMSI says, "Manufacturing smaller bikes are completely different from assembling the high-end bikes with sophisticated technologies. So, the CBR650 is our first step to gain experience of assembling such a high-end bike in India. Once we do that and depending on the market demand we may consider assembling and selling more high performance bikes in India. India is still a predominantly commuter motorcycle market but we are also looking to tap the higher end, enthusiasts segment. Our aim is to make the high-end segment affordable by assembling in India".

The HMSI has carried the second largest share in the Indian market, as it is said to be a commuter-centric mart. The desirable candidates for the CKD units are the VT 1300CX, VFR 1200F, CB 1000R and CBR 1000RR. Although, these above mentioned sports motorcycles are currently being imported to India as CBU units, but will soon get assembled in the India. Along with these, the Honda CBR 650F will also get assembled at the existing manufacturing facility located in Haryana, Rajasthan and Karnataka.