11,000,000 Splendors on road

Hero Honda had achieved the feat of winning the Largest 2Wheeler manufacturer in the World award for 8 consecutive times. On 11-11-2009, Hero Honda created another world record of rolling out the 11th millionth splendor on road and still going strong. 15 years since its launch, the product had been the Darling of the Masses all these years. Let it be a B Com graduate from Delhi University or a owner of some paddy fields in Tamil Nadu, this product had appealed to everybody. This has easily been the most reliable product from Hero Honda and clearly reflects the attitude of the company towards their commitment to the consumers. All these years this product had been positioned as a style icon, economy bike, executive bike etc., In the recent years, there had been close to zero promotions for this product. This makes Splendor a strong example for word of mouth marketing and the level of influence of the reference groups. Hope this guy runs for many more miles before axe.

Honda trying what TVS failed to do...

Honda Motorcycle and Scoorters India (HMSI) has officially announced the launch of its new 110cc motorcycle in the Delhi Auto Expo in Jan 2010. The company who is a technical partner in Hero Honda is a niche player catering to the premium motorcycle segment through Unicorn. Though the company has a commuter segment brand Shine 125cc, now it is entering the entry level motorcycle segment with its 110cc. But the company had made a clear strategy by creating a new segment, which will avoid the head on with its sister brands Passion and Splendor. The new motorcycle is targeted at youth who wants style at the entry level. Also the pricing is expected to be a premium of 10% compared to HeroHonda's Passion and Splendor. This creates a clear differentiation in the already cluttered entry level segment. A product for this segment was already in line with TVS as STAR Sport, which TVS failed to capitalise on. Though the product hit the showrooms, it never took off from there as the company failed to identify the target for the product. HMSI now has an open opportunity to create a winning brand.