[JayPrashanth]

Link to News Section

For all those of you who found the Honda Activa 110 a little too bulbous, here's another Honda scooter that goes easy on the bulk, and the price as well. Market leader in the automatic scooter segment, Honda, has launched a slimmer and cheaper version of the Activa in the form of the Activa-i model. The Honda Activa-i is priced at 44,200 rupees, ex-showroom Delhi, a price that makes the automatic scooter the least priced scooter in Honda's range.




Powered by the same 110cc four stroke engine that the bigger Activa model comes with, the Activa-i's engine gets the same state of tune with 8 Bhp of peak power and 8.74 Nm of peak torque. The Honda Activa-i also gets the Honda HET (An acronym for Honda Eco Technology) technology, which is suite of engineering measures to boost fuel economy. The resultant is a claimed fuel economy of 60 Kmpl. At 103 kilograms, the Activa-i is lighter than the full sized Activa and the automatic scooter comes with features such as combi-braking system, viscous air filter, tubeless tyres and maintenance free battery.

The Honda Activa-i gets 18 liters of under seat storage, enough to store a half face helmet plus plenty of other knick knacks and groceries. The scooter has a ground clearance of 165 mm, which sounds ample enough to navigate across potholes and speed breakers. That said, Honda still misses the party trick of telescopic front forks and the Honda Activa-i is no exception. The newest automatic scooter in town continues to motor on with unit link suspension up front and the only Honda scooter to feature telescopic front forks continues to be the Aviator 110.

Slimmer in profile, the Honda Activa-i is aimed at folks looking at a lighter, nimbler option in the automatic scooter segment. Honda seems to be targeting the likes of the TVS Wego 110. The Activa-i is priced lower than the Wego, and this pricing could set the cat amongst pigeons. The sharp pricing of the Activa-i could get competitors to drop prices as well and in case that pans out, we could have the first ever price war in the Indian automatic scooter segment.

The Activa-i is available in 4 colours: Beige, White, Red and Silver, and the scooter will go on sale across India from the end of this month. Considering that the Activa-i is the least priced Honda scooter aimed at big volumes, the Japanese two wheeler maker has done a Dream Yuga Neo with its latest automatic scooter launch, one that has plenty of potential to further grow Honda's market share.

It must be noted that the automatic scooter segment is one of the fastest growing categories of two wheelers in India and Honda is market leader in this segment with over 50% market share. It'll be interesting to see if the Activa-i cannibalizes the sales of the bigger Activa due to its cheaper price tag, which is over 3,000 rupees lower than the regular Activa variant. Bullish on India, Honda plans to launch no less than 3-4 new products each year as it seeks to take the fight up to market leader Hero MotoCorp in the volumes game.



Honda is already India's second largest two wheeler maker by volume and launches such as the Dream Neo motorcycle and the Activa-i scooter are aimed at further reducing the gap between Honda and Hero MotoCorp. Honda plans to hit the 10 million mark in terms of yearly volumes by 2020. To get there, Honda has just opened a new manufacturing facility at Narsapura, off Bangalore, it's third two wheeler factory in India, after Manesar at Haryana and Tapukara at Rajasthan.

[agambhandari]

Good move by Honda, but who will buy the Activa Now?
Honda claims that it is targeting both the genders with this offering. But one look at the scooter and it is clearly way too feminine than masculine.
Anyway, there is no Scooter that has masculinity. I think those are called Motorcycles

[Soumyajit9]

Well, what my brain feels is that this variant might just get wiped out in the long list of automatic scooters.
A mere Rs.3000 less priced than the regular Activa wouldn't excite buyers. There has to be a pocket friendly margin between the Activa and Activa-i.

From the looks front, the Activa-i looks incomplete and finishing touches seems to be missing. It looks like someone just banged up both the sides of the regular Activa. Since the engine remains the same, the design needs to be re-looked at, with some cosmetic changes in order to attract customers.

But again, there will be hurry-buyers who would have enough cash to just walk in and buy the Activa-i to show off to their neighbours.
On the other hand, I do feel that this could be a replacement for college students who have been forced to ride the Scooty variants.

I have been considering to sell my 9-year old Yamaha Libero and buy the Honda Activa. But I would never ever consider the Activa-i.

[jaganm]

A true enthusiast will never consider an Activa I over a wego as the wego has far better suspension and larger wheels to boot. But then an enthusiast doesn't usually buy a scooter, so yes the wego sales could be hit.

I'm disappointed, I had dreams of a 125 cc model with telescopic suspension and good storage capacity. I will have to keep waiting, maybe Vespa with its VX will deliver.

[revintup]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

The Activa-i is available in 4 colours: Beige, White, Red and Silver

The lady in the press photo seems to riding in a Violet coloured scooter. Are you sure these are the only colours?

[snowmane]

I used to like the Activa, this one seems like a competitor for Hero Pleasure

[girishglg]

This is a neat move to consolidate Honda's position in the scooter market. It is surely leveraging its huge equity of the Activa to launch something sleeker catering to younger crowd.

It is also flanking this offering at a cheaper price point which would attract all those who are contemplating other brands out of Honda portfolio.

Checked out the price which was not yet updated in their site. However a quick comparison with Activa ex Delhi prices shows a 3k difference and Pleasure costs 43,100. So clearly a war brewing there between the giants.

[mTorque]

I think its a good move by Honda! aimed at the slim-to-medium built female riders with liking to convervative styling.

Honda Dio, same in size as that of the newly launched Activa-i, may not be appealing for a customer who is looking for a more conservative styling.
Now the big question is, why select Activa-i instead of Activa? The answer lies in the person's built.
There are many female(and male) riders who are over 30 Yrs and are slim-to-medium built, this new model will appeal to them, in my humble opinion!

[hellmet]

Yaawn. This industry lacks serious innovation. TVS might be the only manufacturer that dares to do something out of the ordinary (once in a rare while) but their sales speak otherwise. Same old engines remixed with 'new' body or sticker designs, and then they crib of a sales slump.

Now where is my gearless motorcycle?

[ghodlur]

Apart from dropping the price, Honda should concentrate more on improving the dealership and aftersales. The amount of complaints during and post buying process is enough to wake up the Honda management who still want to believe that dropping the price will make the Indian customer forget the bad experiences.

[999]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

For all those of you who found the Honda Activa 110 a little too bulbous, here's another Honda scooter that goes easy on the bulk, and the price as well. .

Thanks for that interesting news. We you there at the launch? Any new bikes planned by honda? Also are you a scribe for some auto journal? You always happen to be at the right place for the right thing. Now don't tell me that it is coincidence . Also how do you post a link to the news section? Can members do that?

[anjan_c2007]

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (Private) Limited (HMSIL) has launched a new low end variant of the Activa, named Activa i, with an ex-showroom price of Rs 44,200/- (Delhi). This is aimed at tackling a current price war in this segment.
It will be available in Beige Metallic, Pearl Sunbeam White, Alpha Red Metallic and Purple Metallic colours. The mechanicals appear to be the same as the Activa (regular model) and it uses the same HET (Honda Eco technology) that they claim is frugal on fuel.



(Autocar India image)
Alpha Red Metallic shade

The link for details:

http://www.zigwheels.com/news-featur...s-44200/16609/

Link for images:

http://www.autocarindia.com/Gallery/...ery,3.aspx#pic


N.B. There is already a thread on this topic (13/06/2013) and it is requested that this post may please be merged.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...oom-delhi.html

[sajusherief]

The exposed rear wheel design does not look good to me, especially during monsoon the accumulated mud can look horrible. But yes for the offered price it's not a bad option.

[satansvalet]

I took delivery of the Activa-i (Rs.55,355,on road,Thane) on Sunday. I ride a 2005 Dio and the i is also typical Honda,great to drive and everything feels solid and limited features.

Honda is marketing it as an unisex scooter,but it is painfully obvious that it will only attract the fairer sex.

Completely agree with the sales part.Very poor communication from the dealership.I have been getting my Dio serviced from the authorized service centre since the past 8 odd years but never had any major complaint as yet.