While seeing an increasing downfall in the sales, Honda and Suzuki have shown their disinterest in the entry-level premium market, dominated by Royal Enfield.
Royal Enfield has the monopoly of cruisers in India. The Bullet, Thunderbird and Classic all are very popular among Indians when it comes to touring. To tap into this market, many two-wheeler manufacturers have planned something.
Honda, Suzuki and TVS were earlier reported to develop cruiser motorcycles that will go against Royal Enfield in the 350-500cc segment. However, recent developments recorded by Moneycontrol suggest that Honda and Suzuki have withdrawn their hands from the cruiser department.
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Honda believes that the segment of Royal Enfield is gradually going down. Actually, the business of RE is going down as well, because of brand fatigue. The same-old styling has been reported to be one of the major reasons for its decreasing sales.
We were speculating that Honda might launch the Rebel 300 or the Rebel 500 in India, but reports suggest that they are not in the future plans as of now. Although, there are adventure motorcycles, sportsbikes and naked streetfighters planned in the 500cc segment.
Similarly, Suzuki was also planning to launch a performance cruiser/classic motorcycle. It is planning to launch the Intruder 250 in India soon, but it will be a rival for the Bajaj Avenger 220. Suzuki has stated similar reasons for the disinterest in this segment.
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As for Royal Enfield, it is planning to launch the new range of its Classic, Thunderbird and Bullet motorcycles. Their ageing 350cc engines will be revised to fit in with the BS-6 norms. Also, we will see some mechanical changes with new feature additions.
Seeing the rising expenses due to BS-6 norms and declining sales, RE has decided to discontinue its 500cc motorcycles. The company will now focus only on the 350cc range along with the Himalayan and the RE 650 Twins.
