Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has decided to discontinue three scooter models from the domestic market. The Honda Navi, Honda Cliq, and the Honda Activa-i, have all been pulled out from the Indian market owing to low consumer demand. HMSI senior leadership, including Minoru Kato, President & CEO, and Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing, Yadvinder Singh Guleria have both confirmed to Carandbike that the three scooters will be discontinued and will not be updated to meet the upcoming BS6 emission regulations. All automobiles, including two-wheelers, in India, need to meet the new emission regulations which will come into effect from April 1, 2020.
The Honda Navi will continue to be manufactured and exported to Latin America
Upgrading to BS6 technology would have meant a comprehensive update to the fuelling, with the introduction of fuel-injection and other updates to the engine, and is not as simple as a bolt on solution. While HMSI has already updated the Activa 125, as well as the new Honda Activa 6G to meet the BS6 regulations, the company has decided to not go ahead with updating models which have not been as successful. So, the decision was taken to discontinue all three models from the Indian market.
The Honda Cliq was introduced as a scooter for rural markets
Both the Honda Navi and the Honda Cliq were unconventional scooters, and were priced significantly lower than the Honda Activa. But despite both these models having a price advantage, they failed to become successful commercially. Honda has now decided to discontinue all three models, but the Navi will be offered in export markets, particularly to Latin America. The Honda Navi is the highest-selling two-wheeler in Guatemala. The Honda Activa-i was launched in 2013 as a more affordable and lighter version, but it failed to become as successful as the Honda Activa it’s based on, which is currently the highest-selling scooter in India. As India’s automotive industry moves to the new BS6 regulations, HMSI has decided to trim the Activa range and discontinue the Activa-i.
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