CHENNAI: HONDA Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) seems to stumbled onto a brand new revenue channel, at least for a two-wheeler OEM in the country. Customisation. The company’s odd-looking motorcycle and scooter crossover model - the Navi, is seeing close to 50 per cent of customers opt for customisation kits retailed by Honda. And if the trend continues, Honda might well come out with custom kits for other products in the country.
“It was something that no one had tried out in the two wheeler space. But we are seeing significant traction. 48 per cent of Navi customers are opting for our own customisation kits. We are getting reports that even more customisation is happening in the market,” said Yadvinder Singh Guleria - Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, HMSI. The success of the concept is driving Honda to expand the offering. By the start of the festival season in October, Honda will introduce more custom kits for Navi.
The crossover model, which was launched in only 10 cities earlier this year, has already crossed the 10,000 units sold mark this month. “The bike is a new segment creator, and we have had to revise our estimates of how it would perform. Our initial sales target was 50,000 units annually, but now that it has already crossed 10,000 units, we have doubled our production and will look at hitting one lakh unit sales for FY 17,” said Guleria. By the end of June, the Navi will be available in 35 cities and by August, it might well go pan India.
While Honda seems to be banking big on the Navi doing well, the success of the customisation concept has already thrown up ideas. According to Guleria, the firm is seriously considering introducing such kits for their other products.
“It was debated, since no one has tried it earlier. We are now working on the concept and are seriously considering kits for other products too. It gives us a new window of opportunity for business,” admitted Guleria.
The customisation package available for Navi comes in five different colours currently and costs about Rs 5,000. However, a new package might well be available in a few months to cater to festival season demand. “We are observing what customers are doing in the overall market. Some have even converted their Navis with racing kits. We are taking our cues from here and it is giving us a lot of ideas,” said Guleria.
