The Honda Scooters

Honda's entry to Indian market was with scooters. Way back in 1980s, Honda came with Kinetic and launched the Kinetic Honda scooters. Later, in the early 2000s, Honda came in as independent manufacturer. This time again they launched the Activa as their first vehicle in India.
At the time when Activa was launched, the scooter market was almost dead. There were not many who preferred scooters. The motorcycle market had just started booming. At the launch of Activa, a TVS senior product developer was present. He went and asked a Honda official if they were sure of selling the Activa in a market where the scooter demand was almost dead? The Honda official firmly answered the TVS guy, "If you feel that the scooter market in India is dead then you don't really know your own market."
This said it all. Honda was here to rewrite the rules of Indian market. The Activa, since it was launched, has been a super hit seller for Honda. It was true that at the period of its launch, the demand for scooters was too less but Honda knew the market well and they were sure that if the customers were given a piece of excellence, then it was sure to sell like a hot cake.
So what was it about this Activa that made it such a super hit? I personally own one Activa and I can proudly say that it has everything that makes a scooter a superhit scooter! The Activa has 102cc engine which is just butter smooth. The refinement levels in the engine were unmatched when it was launched. The engine produces about 7 horsepower and is capable of doing speeeds of about 90km/h without much of vibrations. The design of the scoot is quite subtle and appeals almost everyone. Its not a particularly age group oriented or sex oriented vehicle. Its made for all which is one reason why it is loved by all. The Activa is easily flickable in the traffics and a smooth handler. The boot space under the seat is enough to house a helmet and some more stuff. This lends quite a good utility to the scooter. There isn't really anything to complain about in the Activa. And this was the reason for it to become a really good scooter.
After the superb success of Activa, Honda has launched three more scooters in the Indian market. Apart from the geared Eterno, all the scooters have been hot seller. Its not that the Eterno was failure. Even this geared offering did fairly enough to survive the market where motorcycles were in demand like anything. And Honda hasn't yet stopped the production of any of its variants launched in India. This is creditable and hats off to Honda for their success in India. More from the Honda scooters and the bikes coming soon....