Honda launched the H'ness CB350 last month, to be retailed via its premium BigWing dealership network. A made in India, for India, Royal Enfield rivalling, 350cc bike priced at an accessible 1.9 lakhs - launched with a premium dealership with extremely limited presence.
Surely has divided opinion amongst BHPians. Highlighting a few posts -
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Originally Posted by Bismaya This bike should have been a non-Big Wing bike. I went by the local Honda Showroom last week to test ride the Hornet 2.0. Even the old man security guard was excited about the CB350 and wants to own one.
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I live in a Tier 3 city and there's no way CB350 will make it's way even if there's a heavy demand. The nearest Big Wing (I buy all my Honda's from that place for over half a decade now) is 36kms away from my place.On the other hand, Royal Enfield has 3 showrooms within a 28km radius in the district. |
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Originally Posted by neil.jericho Ive been a massive fan of Honda's Big Wing expansion strategy. It is a sound business approach though to most enthusiasts, Honda's slow pace has been rather frustrating.
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From what I have been told, Honda will have two different types of Big Wing dealerships,
- one is going to be a Big Wing dealership which will have the 300 to 500 cc bikes only.
- the second is going to be a Big Wing Top Line dealership which will have the full line up of 300 to 1800 cc bikes.
Cochin is getting the Top Line dealership with the full range of the big bikes. It is replacing the old Ducati dealership which in turn is now shared with Polaris at the old Polaris dealership location. From your post, it looks as though Kozhikode and Trivandrum are getting the regular Big Wing dealerships to sell the 300 to 500 cc bikes. In fact just yesterday, I was chatting with a TBHPian and I said the same, I wont be surprised if those two cities get the 'smaller' premium showrooms. Good move by Honda. |
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Originally Posted by arvi86 So, I made up my mind overnight and went online to book the H'ness CB350 only to find out Chennai doesn't have a Big Wing outlet. I had to choose between Coimbatore, Erode or Tirunelveli. What a bummer, this!
You can't stop with launching a product, Honda. You got to sell them too. There's no excuse for not having an outlet in Chennai! |
My initial thought was of shock as well - it just doesn't make sense to launch such a bike with a network that isn't even present in major cities! But, coming to think of it more, I feel this is sort of a NEXA moment for Honda Big Wing when Baleno went the 'premium' way.
Pros -
+ H'ness CB350 will surely bring in numbers slowly, encouraging more dealers to invest in the premium network.
+ Dealerships get numbers, without compromising on the premiumness too much. CB350 is still a relatively premium bike in the market, unlike earlier complaints of sharing space with the Activa.
+ CKD and CBU bikes can still retain the cheaper service Honda BigWing is known for! With only 500+cc bikes - the costs of such a network would have ensured service bills akin to Kawasaki or Triumph.
+ CKD and CBU bikes will become available in more cities and towns - as the BigWing network expands, boosting Honda's image and sales.
+ Premium competition (Kawasaki, Triumph, etc) maintaining such a network with only CKD/CBU bikes can only dream of the economy of scale BigWing can achieve with bikes like the H'ness 350.
Cons -
- Initial ramp up will be extremely slow. The entire state of Karnataka has only one dealer, that too - just opened last month in Bangalore.
- Customers in many major cities and towns have no option, but to wait for more than a year. Will customers wait, or go through such inconvenience for a 350cc, 20hp bike?
- Service bills could be much more than the competitors like Royal Enfield. The dealerships are making huge investments into these premium showrooms, and they have to break even their costs.
- Gives a lot of time for Royal Enfield to respond. Honda should have gone all out and ensured maximum bikes on the road, during the initial hype period.
![Your thoughts on Honda's BigWing strategy with the CB350 H'ness?-img_5016.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/motorbikes/2070839d1687435527t-your-thoughts-hondas-bigwing-strategy-cb350-hness-img_5016.jpg)
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Pic Source)
What are your thoughts on Honda's BigWing strategy with the H'ness CB350?