Monday 30 December 2013

Honda Two-Wheelers Starts sales in Bangladesh

Honda may have split up with one of the world’s highest selling two wheeler makers, Hero. But that seems to have only bolstered their plans to expand their reach into countries around our sub-continent. Bangladesh Honda Pvt ltd (BHPL), started locally producing the Honda CD 80 (A 4-speed 79cc utility motorcycle) in October 2012. Since then they have started expanding their sales network in Bangladesh. Although at the moment BHPL has only opened two dealerships, they plan to root themselves in Bangladesh and get established as a major player.




One dealership has been opened in Tangail while the other will operate in Jamalpur. Honda will be focusing entirely on commuter motorcycles and it is unlikely that Bangladesh will see performance models like the CBR 250r just yet. The current model range count stands at six including the locally produced CD80 and the Dream Neo that will be imported from Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd (HMSI). The joint venture with Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) was processed towards the end of 2012 with the intention of providing affordable, low-maintenance & high efficiency motorcycles to the masses. The “start small, grow big” approach that Honda is taking means that the service back-up will grow simultaneously.

Bangladesh is a small nation with a population of just 150 million and the industry-wide two-wheeler sales figures stand at a mere 200,000 units in 2012. The Japanese automotive giant is hoping to reinforce its prowess in the region by not only catering to the existing demand, but by creating more of it.  The Bangladeshi market requirement is a mirror image of what the Indian market was less than a decade ago.

Honda’s existing experience in Pakistan and India means that they are going in prepared & this could prove to yet another fruitful endeavour. Hero Motorcorp on the other hand is already selling its motorcycles via the CKD route. The Indian two wheeler giant also revealed its plans to set up a production line in Bangladesh as well as Columbia. Both motorcycle manufacturers are in the phase of laying down their groundwork in Bangladesh, what remains to be seen is how well the buyers respond to this

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