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Hero- Honda has finaly made their much awaited move of  getting the new Karizma FI  soon in the market. As said earlier , the new Karizma might come with Fuel Injection engine. The power rating are not known, but expect some good news from Hero Honda. Apart from the engine the new Karizma FI gets a full fairing, fairing mounted turn indicators, rear disc brake,clip-on handlebars and split grab rail. The new Karizma will also get exclusive colours and expect a modest price hike.

source: indian2wheels.blogspot.com

A look at what’s wrong with the Japanese Companies in India.. Part I: Yamaha India

The above graphic shows how Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki don’t even together account for 10% of the Indian two wheeler market.So what’s wrong for these Japanese companies who once taught Bajaj and TVS the trade of making two wheelers. What’s ailing these Japanese Two wheeler maker..??

Part I: What’s ailing Yamaha India
The mere mention of the brand name “Yamaha” evokes a feeling among bike lovers which is diffcult to describe. The legend of its yesteryear superstars namely the RD350 and the RX100 still manages to overshadow the fact that Yamaha India has made straight losses since 2001.

There are many bikers around in the country who still venerate the Yamaha brand. It wouldn’t be surprising if many of them have never owned a Yamaha Before. Such is the equity of brand Yamaha in India.

Yamaha happens to be the World number two in terms of two wheeler sales after Honda. But in spite of having its presence in India since the mid eighties, Yamaha at present has a market share of just around 3 %.

Needless to say that so far Yamaha has performed below expectations in India.

Lets try to find what has gone wrong for Yamaha India..??

Product LineupLets first look at the Yamaha Products in India.. We have the

100 C.C (economizers)

Crux
Libero G5
Alba (recently launched)
125 C.C

Gladiator (with its “Type J.A” variant)

And….??Nothing else.. at least till now..!!

Ask any Tom Dick and Harry on any Indian street to associate the first word that comes across his mind with “Yamaha”. I can safely bet my money that the answer will invariably be “Speed, Power, Performace”.

After the RX100 and the RD350, by no means can Yamaha make us believe that its 100 cc and 125 cc bikes are the best that it can do in India.

Administrative Problems.

In 2001, Yamaha India bought majority stake in Escorts, its erstwhile JV partner and started on its own as fully owned Japanese subsidiary. But it did not mean that Yamaha India got a fresh start in 2001. Yamaha India had to carry along the Escorts legacy in the form of its workers who previously used to work under Escorts. This is a problem that Yamaha India hasn’t been able to sort out even today.

If you don’t understand how that can be a problem, just try to teach computers to your grandpa and you will understand what I mean. Times had changed since Escorts-Yamaha used to churn out the RX100. Changing times means a different approach to work which requires a change in the mindset of the workers at Yamaha’s plant. And this is one aspect which the new Japanese Bosses at Yamaha India haven’t been able to address so far.

Inefficient and Archaic Dealerships:

Compared to the new and swanky showrooms of its competitors, majority of the dealers and showrooms of Yamaha India looks like it still belongs to the “Licence Raj” days. These dealerships have been in operational since Escorts-Yamaha days. With concepts like “Pro-Biking” showrooms of Bajaj which have been designed to provide a rich experience to the biker, Yamaha India still has a lot to pick up.

Marketing Disaster:

Similar to the how (according to me) the Honda Unicron, has been a marketing failure in India, virtually every product from Yamaha can be a case study for failed Marketing effort.After marketing research the next steps of marketing can be summed up as

Segmentation
Targeting and
Positioning

First of all Marketing Dept. of Yamaha picked up the wrong Segment (100 cc segment) to play in, targeted the wrong customers (actually it beats me to decipher who is Yamaha’s 100 cc target customer) and doesn’t have a strong and clear Positing statement for its products.

Lets try to figure out “What is the positioning statement of Yamaha India’s motorcycles..” From the wheelie popping Gladiator 125 cc ads featuring , John Abraham and the latest ad of the 100 cc Alba here a Girl gets the tattoo of the 100 cc Yamaha Alba on her back, we can say that Yamaha India’s bike are positioned as fast and with sexy designs.

Sexy looks for a 100 cc commuter..?? Wheelies from a 125 cc executive commuter..?? Yeah, that’s what we need. Probably you have the answer now.

What can we expect from the future..??

No matter how miserably Yamaha’s offerings’ have performed in India so far, Indians still have and probably will always have respect for any products from any Japanese Bike maker.

The day Yamaha India launches a proper performance bike, “desi” bike enthusiasts will sit up and take notice. There is no reason to believe that the World’s Second largest Two Wheeler maker can’t pull it off in India. According to me its just the matter of application and letting go of the past.

What is required is to think and start afresh. Let’s see for how long can Yamaha India keep us waiting.Inputs from: Business World

Honda Motor Company’s Southeast Asia head and the CEO of Honda SIEL Cars India Masahiro Takedagawa told ET on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary of Honda cars in India, “We are not sitting idle. We have our own strategy and will soon come out with a range of new bikes for the Indian market. I cannot disclose the products right now but these will be extensions of our new two-wheeler technology, which will be launched in the Indian market soon.”

Sources said HMC is contemplating to launch two-three new bikes through Hero Honda and HMSI in the festive month of October when sales spurt due to auspicious buying during Dussehra and Diwali. Hero Honda is likely to introduce new bikes between 130 cc and 150 cc.
(a higher engine displacement than Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors’ newly-launched bikes). A Hero Honda spokesperson refused to confirm the launch and said, “The company would not like to comment on future product launches.”

To counter threats by Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors, which aim to upgrade 100-cc customers to their 125-cc bikes, HMSI is likely to launch new bikes in the 100-cc segment based on new technology offerings, higher fuel efficiency and power. “We are planning to further increase out portfolio in the two-wheeler market and both companies (Hero Honda and HMSI) will complement each other in different two-wheeler segments. The new products will cater to different kinds of demands in the market,” Mr Takedagawa said.

HMC is keeping a wait and watch policy on the recent launches of Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors, which are targeted at gaining volumes in the market. Bajaj Auto launched the 125-cc bike ‘XCD 125′ on its patented DTSi technology on Sunday at Rs 41,000, about Rs 3,000 lower than the cheapest brand of Hero Honda. TVS Motors had also rolled out a new 125-cc bike Flame on the similar twin spark-based (CC-VTi) technology from its Hosur manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu, which will be launched commercially in October.
Via: The Economic Times

What is performance motorcycling? Does it really have takers in a commuter-oriented market like ours? Is an indigenously developed and built larger capacity motorcycle possible?

For Indian motorcycle manufacturers, the answer to the first question so far, has been, “Who cares?” and the other two has been, “No way.” Which is why the new Bajaj Pulsar DTS-Fi is a milestone.

The Indian motorcycle enthusiast’s lot has been a tortured one. His demands have been swamped and diluted in a swarm of 60 kpl machines and in the entire history of Indian two-wheelers, only six or seven machines are memorable on performance terms. And of them, maybe two are on sale right now.

But with 124 kph showing on the orange-lit LCD speedometer of the new Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi I’m on, I really should be doing other things. Like figuring out how to get the motorcycle to slow down for the uphill left turn that is coming up quickly.

It really isn’t a concern, as the brakes are the best I’ve used. If my visor were dry and my raincoat was still in my kit bag, I’d probably be seeing closer to 135 kph on the speedo right now.
On my umpteenth fast-but-not-pushing-it lap of Bajaj’s Chakan plant test-track, I’m impressed with the motorcycle and what it represents. Since the Yamaha RD350 (Yamaha RX100 and Suzuki Shogun lovers please excuse), we haven’t had this classy, this fast, this good a performance motorcycle at all.

It takes corners with a delightful, eager poise, is accurate like a surgeon’s scalpel and can brake hard with easy confidence. The throttle is superlight and crisp and I can already see all sorts of careless riders using it to scare themselves silly. More importantly, I can see hordes of serious riders grinning in delight.

And why not? Bajaj’s design brief for the DTS-Fi was to create a no-compromise machine for the performance motorcycle enthusiast. This, they have achieved.

The motorcycle boasts a highly refined (low noise, no vibes, slick shifts and all) 220cc motor that makes a heady 20 bhp and 1.95 kgm of torque. And it is effortless, free-revving and can roll along at 50 kph in top gear should you feel the need. And return 50 kpl while you are doing that. It’s almost like having your cake and eating it too.

I could, at this point, go into a 3,000-word discussion of all the various features this bike sports, some of which have never been seen on Indian motorcycles. But that would be missing the point.
In any case, you will be spending a lot of time in Bajaj’s Pro-Biking showrooms listening to the harried sales guy who will be hard-pressed to remember all of them.

The big ones are tubeless tyres (one of the reasons for the great handling feel), 55-watt projector low beam headlamp (even, no-glare illumination), slick digital dash (feature packed and easy to read) and new styling package with distinctive LED taillamps. But the biggest of them all is fuel injection, which has allowed the DTS-Fi to get that linear power curve, crisp feel and instant throttle response.

A bike like the Pulsar DTS-Fi is significant because this is the first nod from a major manufacturer to the Indian performance enthusiast in years.

The Bajaj Pulsar 180 and to some extent the Hero Honda Karizma have been the staples for us, but in one stroke, they’re both passe. Here is a motorcycle that’s more sorted, faster and more effortless.

And while Bajaj won’t say it, the DTS-Fi is not going to be outrageously expensive either. They confirmed a five-digit price tag and our sources are hinting at an on-road price of Rs 92,000 or thereabouts. Yes, fully loaded. Which is outstanding value for money.

In EMI terms, the increment over a Pulsar 180 or a Karizma would be next to nothing. In value terms, it would make a great purchase. Again, Bajaj won’t say it, but we believe Diwali or during that festive period, you will be able to walk in and buy the fuel injected Pulsar from any Bajaj Pro-Biking showroom.

With these many features, obvious performance and a smart, high power price tag, the Pulsar 220 could actually change our manufacturers’ answers to all the three questions we posed right at the outset.

The motorcycle will be commercially successful, there is no question about it. Obviously, it won’t beat the 60 kpl commuter. But then, it doesn’t have to. For the enthusiast, it would be the perfect tool to forget about those appliances.

For the manufacturers, especially rivals, it would signal the opening of a new market at the very top of the pecking order. A market all of us enthusiasts are milling about in, but the shelves have been empty so far.

The Pulsar 220 might actually cause competing products to fill the shops. We already know that TVS is working on an Apache 180. A successful P220 might even prod Hero Honda (or Honda, or both) to upgrade, re-arm or replace the Karizma with something more serious.

It might actually engineer separate market spaces for enthusiast-centric product strategy, which so far, does not exist. For us, it would be the beginning of an era of machines we’ve been forced to only dream about so far.

There is, of course, another perspective. I personally wish the motorcycle had been a storming 25 bhp 250cc demon. That would have elevated the price tag, but it would have represented a cleaner break with lower displacement machines.But then, the enthusiast will always want more. And therein lies the market. Usually, the enthusiast will be more likely to put his money where his mouth is. And so far, only Bajaj seems to have realised this.

unblevieble turbo in vespa scooter

soo what you say after seeing this video ???

source: www.rockingroadies.com/