[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

Not to contradict this news as I don't have facts to prove, but I find this record slightly hard to believe.
Rachit

The next lot of 59 nos of 600i and 66nos of 300 kits have just landed in Mumbai ports 2 days ago.

[loki]

Originally Posted by Engine_Roars

Drum Rolls - The bookings have started.

http://auto.ndtv.com/news/bookings-f...-4-2015-780131

Hmm... phoned Silicon Honda. They haven't been intimated yet by Honda to begin bookings. They did confirm Aug 4th as the launch date.

[Nithesh_M]

30 bikes are ready before launch. http://www.autocarpro.in/news-nation...fs-launch-8838

[loki]

The wait to know the pricing is so

So we know its going to be the Tricolor. What about the rest of the colors? I wouldn't mind waiting for other color options provided they are made available soon. But I'm also afraid the Honda might play this like Kawasaki (N650) and offer only a single color scheme - no point to wait for other color options then right? Hope this is clarified too on Aug 4th.

[pratap.pratu]

whats the idea of releasing only one color option. it really dampens the exciting factor all together.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by pratap.pratu

whats the idea of releasing only one color option. it really dampens the exciting factor all together.

Playing safe like how Kawasaki does. Lesser inventories and sort. Forget the color, price it right.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Forget the color, price it right.

Not sure but i heard that it will be in the range of 750 to 780K Ex Showroom.
All put together it must be around 875 to 900K on road.

If that's true then Honda are missing a trick.

[loki]

Meanwhile... the Revfest website is up. http://hondarevfest.com/

Exploring it now.

[loki]

Images posted at the below link show a non-ABS version:

http://gaadiwaadi.com/honda-cbr-650f...launch-251328/

Are they going to launch both versions? Will the Non-ABS version be priced very close to the Ninja 650?

[Nithesh_M]

I still think ABS is standard. And even if they offer Non-ABS it will only be like 30k cheaper. Noway they will knock off 2 lakhs off it

[Sojogator]

How does an inline 4 (not a 10 year old one at that) cost same as a twin ? Anything around 7 to 8 would be great pricing in my opinion. So I expect Honda to price it a shade over 8 ex showroom.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Sojogator

How does an inline 4 (not a 10 year old one at that) cost same as a twin ? Anything around 7 to 8 would be great pricing in my opinion. So I expect Honda to price it a shade over 8 ex showroom.

Why should it not be priced similar to a twin? Are the extra two cylinders gold plated?
Check out Benelli.. their inline 4 costs only about 6.8-7 lacs on road. Now if Honda tries to play its premium card la Toyota that's a different matter.

[TheCelestial]

Originally Posted by loki

Meanwhile... the Revfest website is up. http://hondarevfest.com/

Exploring it now.

Showroom in Indore but none in Pune? Really Honda?

[loki]

Originally Posted by Sojogator

How does an inline 4 (not a 10 year old one at that) cost same as a twin ? Anything around 7 to 8 would be great pricing in my opinion. So I expect Honda to price it a shade over 8 ex showroom.

How then does a inline triple (Striple) cost more than inline-4 (Z800?). Its not just manufacturing and logistics cost. Pricing strategy and positioning also decide local price.

If you consider the N650 and CBR650 for comparison, how then are they priced very closed to each other in Thailand where both are manufactured? The N650 comes in at 290k baht and the CBR650 comes at around 300k baht.

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Why should it not be priced similar to a twin? Are the extra two cylinders gold plated?
Check out Benelli.. their inline 4 costs only about 6.8-7 lacs on road. Now if Honda tries to play its premium card la Toyota that's a different matter.

Replicas and knockoffs will always undercut all new products. The Benellis are sourcing discarded Yamaha engine and Aprilia frame so they have nothing to do with the R&D costs. Their only constraint is manufacturing and that in a country like China where skilled laborers work for peanuts is like a money minting heaven regardless of what you want to manufacture. Its why GoPro, Iphones and other big names source their chips from there.
There is also a CBR 250R replica sold in Chennai that is imported from China and that undercuts Indian Made CBR by a few thousands.

Also the same Benelli 600I sells for 3.84 lakhs INR in South Africa with a 1 year or 10,000kms warranty.
So you see, they have no issues regarding R&D cost recovery. Their only issue is manufacturing costs, factory and dealership overheads and profit margin.

Originally Posted by loki

If you consider the N650 and CBR650 for comparison, how then are they priced very closed to each other in Thailand where both are manufactured? The N650 comes in at 290k baht and the CBR650 comes at around 300k baht.

The N300 comes in at 1.56 lakhs
The N650 comes in at 2.18 lakhs.
The Street triple comes in at 3.07 lakhs
The Z800 comes in at 3.55 lakhs
And then there is the TNT600I which comes in at 2.83 lakhs from China.

The N650 is outdated and is still selling from a 2006's price point with relative increase in price proportional to the increased manufacturing cost owing to inflation.
Any product made today will for obvious reasons will be more expensive even if it has to replicate the same specifications. Engineers paid 10 years ago to build that product from scratch cannot be paid the same today to design a similar product from scratch. Nor can you build a prototype with the same money constraint as in 2005. Everything today costs more than 10 years ago.
This is why manufacturers charge what we call a "premium". The R&D has to be functional to keep rolling out new products. Not everyone can sell the same product for 10 years today especially when an all new product is rolling out every 3-4 years replacing the older models.

As and when Kawasaki decides to replace the N650 with an all new product, it will be expensive than the outgoing model.

Inflation is not a beautiful thing.

Only way to keep premium low is to give rise to multiple bikes using the same platform like the CBR 400 and 500 F/R/X and KTM Duke and RC series.