Yet another chapter was added to Chennai’s Motorsport legacy when city’s riders Sarath Shankar Kumar, Aravind B and Rihana Reya clinched the respective championships to bring curtains on the 2015 Honda One Make Race Championship 2015 at the MMRT, here on Sunday.
Sarath Shankar Kumar from Ten 10 Racing, who came into the final read with an unassailable lead, clinched the CBR 250R Championship without having to take to the tracks on Sunday. His 186 points tally was built on the back of 6 consecutive wins including ‘a double’ at the Buddh International Circuit during Round 4. His absence from the grid was fully capitalized on by Ranchi’s Sumit Lucas Toppo (Pro Lap Racing) and Chennai’s Dinesh Kumar D (United Tech Torque Racing), winning Race 1 and Race 2 respectively. Sunday also witnessed Ten 10 Racing clinch the Team Championship for 2015 season.
The CBR 150R Championship escalated into a 3-way showdown between joint leaders Sivanesan S and Aravind B (from Chennai); and Kishoar VS from Coimbatore, who had started the day on pole position. However, in the final race, Aravind B edged-out Sivanesan to the second spot and claim championship glory after latter had failed to finish his race. Kishoar VS, from Coimbatore, showed great composure to clinch both the races on Sunday, and finish the Championship on third position.
In a step towards achieving a greater democratization of Motorsport, and to encourage more women participation, Honda today flagged-off the first ever Honda All Ladies Race in Chennai. Amid huge cheers, 10 women from all over India took to the grid for this historic race. In the end, despite Pune’s Pooja A Dhabi best-efforts, it was Chennai’s Rihana Reya who rallied brilliantly to jump two-places from her starting position and emerged triumphant in this inaugural race. Pooja finished second while Soundari (from Chennai) who finished third.
Aggressively investing to ‘Make in India’ for India and the world, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) today inaugurated its landmark fourth manufacturing plant at Vithalapur (Ahmedabad district, Gujarat) in India. Honda’s latest green factory has come up in a record time of 13 months!
The historic ceremony was graced by chief guest: Mrs. Anandiben Patel (Chief Minister of Gujarat),Mr. Noriake Abe (Operating Officer, COO - Asia and Oceania Regional Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.), Mr. Shinji Aoyama (Operating Officer and Director, Chief Operating Officer, Motorcycle Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.), Mr. Toshiyuki Shimabara, (Operating Officer, Executive Incharge of Motorcycle Production, Motorcycle operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd), Mr. Keita Muramatsu (President & CEO – Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd), Mr. Toshinobu Motai (Chief Production Officer, HMSI), Mr. V Sridhar (Senior Vice President & Director – Corporate Office Production, HMSI), Mr. Anupam Mohindroo (Senior Vice President & Director – Purchase Head office, HMSI) and Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria (Senior Vice President – Sales & Marketing, HMSI).
Spread over 250 acres, Honda’s Fourth plant operations are scheduled in two phases. The first production line of 6 lac units’ annual production will soon be followed by the 2nd Line of additional 6 lac units’ annual production in the middle of 2016. In total, Honda will manufacture 1.2 million automatic scooters annually from its fourth plant.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. unveiled it’s 15th product of the year, CB Shine SP bike. It is powered by 125cc 4-stroke Advanced HET (Honda Eco Technology) engine, and comes with a 5-speed gearbox.
The new CB Shine SP is a combination of sharp headlight with carved visor on top of it. Stylish graphics, aided by front cowl and tank graphics infuse a sense of excitement while the curved tank with 3D emblem brings in agility to the motorcycle. The CB Shine SP sports a digital analogue meter console and the dual tone side-cover. It features 5-split alloy wheels with discs and a 2-piece designed modern muffler.
CB Shine SP comes equipped with the Combi-Brake System (CBS), an advanced braking system which enhances rider-safety. The company claims that the bike delivers mileage of 65 kmpl. The CB Shine SP comes with tubeless tyres, reducing the chances of immediate deflation in case of puncture.
The new CB Shine SP comes in 5 colours– Geny Grey Metalic, Athletic Blue Metallic, Pearl Amazing White, Black and Rebel Red Metallic; and is available for sale in three variants. It is priced at Rs. 59,900 for Self-Drum-Alloy, Rs.62,400 for Self-Disc-Alloy and Rs. 64,400 for CBS (Ex-showroom, Delhi).
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) has got some interesting sales figures. The Honda Activa has dethroned all motorcycle models to become the first two-wheeler to cross 1 million sales mark in just 5 months.
Today, Activa is leading the scooterization of the Indian 2 Wheeler industry from the front. And no doubt, I agree to it as I own one for the past 7 years. Activa sales volume has grown 20 times that of the 2 Wheeler Industry which has remained flat so far this year in April to August, 2015.
By adding an incremental 1.6 lac units sold over last year, Activa has single-handedly given a boost to the entire 2Wheeler industry. It has secured No.1 position thrice in a row in FY’15-16 and has sold a total of 2.17 lac units in August, 2015.
Speaking on this achievement, Mr. Keita Muramatsu, President and CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) said,"We are excited to have started the festive season on a high note, with Activacreating a hat-trick as the No. 1 selling 2-wheeler of India for 3 consecutive months."
Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) said,"Overtaking motorcycles to become No. 1 selling two-wheeler of India,Activa today represents the metamorphosis of the society. Our great nation is truly under the grip of Activation & we thank all our valued Customers on this Activah vah moment."
Honda Cars India Ltd. has launched the 3rd generation Honda Jazz. The petrol variant has been priced between Rs 5.30 lakh and Rs 7.85 lakhs while the diesel version will cost between Rs 6.49 lakhs to Rs 8.59 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi).
The Hatchback car is a global model in Honda’s line-up and will be available in both Diesel and Petrol fuel options in India. The company stated that the diesel variant will debut with 1.5 L i-DTEC diesel engine exclusively for the Indian market which will offer a class leading fuel economy of 27.3 km/l. The All New Jazz has been developed at Honda’s R&D Centre located in Tochigi, Japan. The Diesel Jazz is powered by the 1.5L i-DTEC diesel engine of Earth Dream Technology series and delivers a maximum power of 100ps@3600 rpm and maximum torque of 200 N-m@1750 rpm. It has been mated to a newly developed 6-speed Manual Transmission.
The Petrol variant of the Jazz is powered with a 1.2 L i-VTEC engine that delivers a maximum power of 90 ps@6000 rpm and a torque of 110 N-m@4800 rpm. It has been mated with Honda’s advanced CVT that delivers segment leading fuel efficiency of 19 kmpl. It is the only car in its segment to be equipped with steering-wheel-mounted unique dual mode "Paddle Shift" option. The petrol variant also comes with 5 speed manual transmission.
Its exterior features include LED tail and stop lamp, tail gate spoiler, rear micro antenna, 15" sporty alloy wheels, stylish fog lamps, sleek turn indicators on door mirrors. Its interior Equipment has a segment Auto A/C with touch screen control panel, a highly visible always lit 3-eye meter array with Eco-assist function, steering wheel with buttons for audio and hands free control, advance integrated audio with 12.7 cm (5") Screen and Rear parking camera with multiple views. The top variant of the Jazz consists of an advanced 15.7 cm (6.2") touchscreen Audio Visual Navigation (AVN) system with camera display and DVD playback. The interiors of the Jazz feature Premium beige fabric seats. The Jazz also offers maneuverability with 5.1m minimum turning radius.The Jazz boasts spacious boot of 354L and has a ground clearance of 165mm.
The new Jazz features Advanced Compatibility Engineering body which enhances self-protection while mitigating damage to other vehicles in the event of a Collison. In terms of safety, it includes Pedestrian Injury Mitigation Technology, Driver and Front Passenger Dual SRS-Airbags, Anti-Lock Brake System which prevents wheel locking, Electronic Brake Distribution which enhances braking performance. Also, the front seats are equipped with Impact Mitigating Headrests which reduces the possibility of neck injury in rear impacts of low speed. The ABS with EBD is being offered as standard across all diesel and Petrol CVT variants.
The Honda Jazz is available in 5 grades offered in petrol and diesel variants- E, S, SV, V and VX with Manual Transmission. Additionally, the Jazz will be available in CVT in S and V petrol variants. The All new Jazz is available in 7 colors –Sunset Orange, Carnelian red pearl, Orchid white pearl, Golden brown metallic, Urban Titanium metallic,Alabaster Silver metallic and Taffeta white. The All new Jazz will come with a 2-year or 40,000 Km warranty as standard value for all customers.
