Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Thursday said the next financial year is again going to be challenging in terms of sales for the company, with the prices of two-wheelers set to go up by up to 15 per cent with BS-VI transition taking place from April this year.
The company, which on Thursday launched an all-new BS-VI compliant version of its super bike Africa Twin Adventure Sports, said it would be difficult for the manufacturers to bring in customers to showrooms with price of BS-VI versions going up significantly.
"Next financial year is going to be another challenging year for us, one because 100 per cent transition is going to happen into BS-VI. So, every manufacturer would now have to chase the customer at totally different price points and these price points would be higher by 10-15 per cent," HMSI Senior Vice-President (Sales and Marketing) Yadvinder Singh Guleria told PTI.
Giving an example, he said that if any customer was planning to buy a two-wheeler on August 31, 2018, but somehow did not make that purchase and now, if he buys that same vehicle on April 1, 2020, he will have to shell out 20-25 per cent more.
Prices of two-wheelers have gone up due to increase in insurance premium, addition of safety equipment due to new regulations and planned transition from BS-IV to BS-VI emission regime from next month, Guleria noted.
When asked if the company is also facing component supply disruption due to the coronavirus outbreak, he said, "So far, till yesterday's (Wednesday) production, we did not have any impact. One of the reason is that we have effectively used our global supply chain support in getting and sourcing the components from. That has helped us."
However, moving ahead, the company is monitoring the situation on a daily basis and if the situation prolongs, it may also have an impact on the company as well, Guleria noted.
The company mainly gets electrical items like LEDs and blinkers from China.
On the company's position in terms of BS-IV stock, Guleria said HMSI has switched totally to BS-VI production from February and it is in a comfortable position.
"But, when we talk about dealerships, there would be mixed cases as we have 2,000-plus dealers and the total sales network is over 6,200-plus now," he said.
There are some dealers who have already exhausted 100 per cent of the BS-IV stock and there are some who may be still carrying up to three weeks of the stock, Guleria said.
"So, we are playing the role of enabler, helping movement of stocks among dealers, so that we are able to control any negative impact on our business partners," he added.
He, however, made it clear that the company has no plans as of now to take back stock from the dealers.
"The stock needs to be liquidated in the market and for that whatever support that needs to be extended to the dealers, we have already extended and that is why we are in a very comfortable position. Things like recalling the vehicles from dealers and then exporting them to global markets, we do not have any such plans as of now," Guleria said.
HMSI on Thursday introduced all-new version of its super bike Africa Twin Adventure Sports, with price starting at Rs 15.35 lakh (ex-showroom).
The BS-VI compliant model, which is powered by 1,084cc engine, comes with both manual and DCT (automatic) transmissions.
The manual version is priced at Rs 15.35 lakh, while the DCT trim is tagged at Rs 16.10 lakh (ex-showroom).
The company has sold over 200 units of the model since its launch in 2017, Guleria said.
The bike now comes with new frame, bigger engine, more peak power, new electronics and new suspension, he added.
"The bookings for the model are open from today (Thursday) and the deliveries will begin from May onwards," Guleria said.
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