Hero Honda gets set for cheap mobikes

The Rs 1-lakh car is getting ready to roll out of the Tata stables. With a car for so less an amount, motorcycles suddenly seemed expensive. Motorcycle makers also have begun launching bigger and more expensive motorcycles.

The Munjals, though, are moving down the price brackets to widen the gap. The world's biggest two-wheeler maker is planning to build a motorcycle that will sell for Rs 12,500-15,000 and create an all-new class of buyers. The current crop of cheapest motorcycles in India cost between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000.

The Munjals are, in fact, evaluating the scenario. They have made it known that a possible $300-350 motorcycle is what they are planning. Though there is nothing on the drawing board yet, Hero Honda is seriously looking at it.

Meanwhile, a report said that Hero Honda is being egged on by the government's unannounced concessions in its 10-year vision statement, which envisages the development of low-cost vehicles.

According to the Automotive Mission Plan, the focus should be on developing and selling appropriate products for the large population of the country. The products could include cost-effective small carriers, strong rugged vehicles for the rural market and $300-350 motorcycles, it said.

Small car manufacture has already stepped on the gas with the government deciding snip excise duty on small cars to 16 per cent from the earlier 24 per cent. Automobile experts don't rule out a similar evolution of the two-wheeler market.