To counter the new competition - 125cc Kinetic flyte and Suzuki Access and to tap the festive demand Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India (HMSI) has upgraded entire scooter line-up the Activa, Dio and Eterno . The new activa,dio and eterno will look fresh with new graphics and new shades. “We have introduced new designs and graphics on our scooter range, which will be available to customer in next few days. These new changes, based on customer feedback, will come along with our special finance schemes for the festive season.” Honda GM, sales and marketing, N K Rattan said. Through these facelift/upgrades Honda will get more time before launching its complete new scooter. Honda’s new scooter, a notch above Activa, is believed to be built on a completely new platform. Honda will showcase its new scooter at the AutoExpo next year, which will be launched in later.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Pictorial Preview of Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark
1) Bullet’s new avatar will be out soon! Yes, Royal Enfield’s first engine with integrated gearbox is ready. In Indian context the 350cc Thunderbird will be fitted with this UCE (Unit Constructed Engine) or Integrated engine. But no Fuel Injection(FI) for Indian market atleast for now. Royal Enfield makes use of twin spark in the new engine to achieve better fuel efficiency but the company claims the usage and application of the technology is entirely different from TVS and Bajaj. Royal Enfield also says Thunderbird Twinspark’s new engine will be trouble free, it will also inherit the original Royal Enfield engine architecture. Here’s the Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark advertisement
2) Royal Enfield’s Thunderbird Twinspark UCE would have lesser friction and wear-and-tear in mechanical parts of the engine, thus the Bullet’s new engine will have superior performance. The integrated engine or unit construction engine(UCE) is also expected to slightly reduce the metal cost for Royal Enfield.
3) Currently, Thunderbird model is powered by a lean-burn engine. TBTS (Thunderbird Twin Spark) model will launched soon. Royal Enfield may phase out the existing Thunderbird LB or keep it, company’s decision will be based on the customer response.
4) Royal Enfield is also working on a integrated engine with Fuel Injection technology for the export market. Royal Enfield is also working on a new design with the help of an independent design studio in UK. Probably next year, Indian market will also receive newly styled products from Royal Enfield.
5) Royal Enfield has invested around Rs50 crore for the new engines and designs. Royal Enfield hopes to lure new customers apart from the loyal Royal Enfield customers with the new products.
