Honda to make 100 more Africa Twin superbikes

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Pvt Ltd, which is betting big on premium sports bike segment, plans to manufacture 100 more units of its 1000-cc superbike Africa Twin priced at Rs 13.23 lakh in India this year.

The company launched this adventure tourer bike in India last year and has received overwhelming response from the superbike enthusiasts.

"We have received very good response from bikers in India for this bike since its launch last year. So, we are planning to manufacture at least 100 more units this year," Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Operating Head - Sales & Marketing Sr Vice President, HMSI told DH.

He said HMSI is organising weekend rides to popularise this bike across 22 showrooms where it is available for sale. "We are educating the bikers how to enjoy this bike," he said.

Honda flagged off a special 'True Adventure Anniversary Ride' for the adventure tribe (Africa Twin owners) in Bengaluru on Saturday.

The bike is also known as Honda CRF 1000L Africa Twin and is assembled in India. It is sold through its Wing World outlets which are available in 22 cities. The bike is powered by a parallel twin-cylinder OHC engine that produces around 87hp at 7,500 rpm and a peak torque of 91.9Nm at 6,000 rpm. The bike can reach a top speed of 190 kmph. It is fitted with a dual clutch transmission, which is an automatic with paddle shifters.

Consolidation in South India market

Meanwhile, HMSI has strengthened its leadership position as the number one Two-wheeler brand in South Region. Honda is also the first 2-Wheeler brand in the industry to cross 5 lakh sales mark in just 3 months’ time in the region (April-June’18).

Led by demand, Honda has emerged as the largest brand of two-wheelers in all 5 states of the south region (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). "Being the market leader in the region, Honda is driving the industry in south with highest contribution to incremental industry volumes and every 3rd two-wheeler on south Indian roads is a Honda," Guleria said.

HMSI sold its first two-wheeler in Bengaluru way back in 2001.

Honda expanded the production capacity at Narasapura plant in Karnataka making it the world’s largest two-wheeler plant for Honda. To reach closer to the customers and enhance market connect, Honda has aggressively expanded network presence in the region and also operates direct company offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Vijayawada.”

Honda has garnered more than 1 crore customers in south region riding on the back of an overall double-digit growth with more than 17.6 lac two-wheelers sold in FY 2017-18. Thus, Honda has captured highest market share of 35%. While Activa continues to be the highest selling automatic scooter in the region, Honda’s CB Shine leads in the 125cc motorcycle segment.