Honda Motorcycle to launch electric 2-wheeler this fiscal

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is planning to introduce its first electric two-wheeler in the country this financial year, according to Yogesh Mathur, HMSI’s director of sales and marketing.

“We will soon be coming in EVs. We are the only OEM which is left out currently,” Mathur says, adding that the electric vehicle market is exciting.

“Till last year it (EV sale) was clocking around 5% and now it has reached 8%. The contribution of EVs is increasing. By 2030, there will be a major chunk shifting towards EVs. We also have announced that by 2030, one-third of our sales will be from EVs,” says Mathur.

When asked whether the automaker plans to launch an electric motorcycle, Mathur says most EVs in two-wheelers are scooters. “There are a few motorcycle manufacturers but their volumes are miniscule. So it makes sense for anyone to enter the EV space through scooter range only but we are exploring both types of products going forward,” he says.

Mathur says the phasing out of subsidy will not affect the Japanese two-wheeler maker as it will position its product based on available government incentives at the launch.

“We are also looking at multiple types of powertrains to go forward. Not just EV but also in flex fuels,” says Mathur.

The Activa maker is also exploring CNG two-wheelers if it makes economic sense. “In terms of reducing overall carbon footprint, we are looking at CNG. Globally, CNG and LNG contribute very small in numbers. But what makes sense from a government perspective is to focus on EVs and flex fuels,” says Mathur.

India is so vast that all types of powertrains can co-exist simultaneously, he says.

Two-wheeler sales are yet to recover to their pre-pandemic highs. “With 10-12% growth, by next 3-4 years, two-wheeler sales should come back to the pre-pandemic levels,” says Mathur, adding that the industry will close the current fiscal with over 1.7 crore units.

“Rural sales have not been able to grow significantly because of multiple reasons. First is the marriage season which normally is there in the first quarter of any fiscal (April-June) was not there this time. Second was the general elections. Third was the monsoon getting delayed. When the monsoon started, incessant rains caused flash floods, which impacted sales. We expect the upcoming festive season to boost sales,” says Mathur. 30-35% of HMSI’s sales come from rural areas.

60% of HMSI’s sales come from scooters and 40% come from motorcycles even though it has nine motorcycle models versus four scooter models.

Scooter sales grew 24% in 2023-24, higher than motorcycle sales which rose 13%. On average, two-wheeler sales grew 16% last fiscal. Urban growth is faster than rural growth, says Mathur.

“Currently entry motorcycle segment 100-110cc is growing by around 2%. The major growth is coming from the 125cc segment which is growing at 55%. Above 150-180cc is de-growing,” he says, adding that entry consumers are shifting towards 125cc motorcycles.

HMSI’s current capacity is 62 lakh units annually.