Honda's adventures, a combination of successful tools and a loyal audience (photo: manufacturer's website)
It didn't happen immediately and not really easily, but in recent years Honda's two-wheeled division in the world in general and in Israel in particular has recorded a series of extraordinary successes.
Some of them, at least in the local market, are arriving against the background of the increasing demand for two-wheelers in recent years as a response to the traffic congestion with us, are not going anywhere, and when more digging machines than trains drive over the ruins of Tel Aviv - this is not going to change.
The other part stems from a very precise product line with a segmentation to meet needs in the various categories, starting with tools like the FORZA 350, which was recently joined by the X ADV 350 version, continuing in the 500 family that offers a Niked, adventure and road motorcycle, continuing to the CBR650, to The excellent X ADV 750 and from there to the Holbovinik NC750 and the Africa Twin.
All are very dominant players in their segments.
In fact, in many respects, the situation there is the mirror image of the situation under Honda Cars.
A brand that in recent years has dwindled in its supply and is currently in hibernation.
X ADV, the customers took a while to digest it and then the onslaught began (photo: manufacturer's website)
At the importing "Meir" company, they conclude with satisfaction 2022 on two wheels when the market's expected delivery is 21,500 vehicles, that is, an increase of 4% from last year.
Within this figure is Honda itself, which recorded an increase from 14 to 19% in the local market share.
When in segmentation between motorcycles and scooters it has the most significant market share - 18%.
Even in the large scooter market - from the main growth engines of the importer, it presents impressive figures of 39% of the market share, for which two of its vehicles are responsible - the X ADV and the FORZA, both with a volume of 750. Although it should be noted that this is a rather limited category compared to the scooter market with the volume the lower, and which still make up the lion's share of the two-wheeler market in Israel.
There by the way the dominant manufacturer is still Sun Yang.
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The distribution of sales in the automatic tools is 50:50, the bikers are convinced to give the automatic a chance (photo: manufacturer's website)
But Honda's offering also includes other vehicles that are doing very well in the new motorcycle market, led by the Africa Twin, the successful and friendly adventure motorcycle that has already earned him a crowd of fans, and despite a 14% drop in sales this year to 521 vehicles from its entire range, along with the CB500X, the CRF300L and the NC750X the manufacturer manages to maintain the first place in the market share of the adventurers. The sports category in which Honda includes the CBR650, the CBR500 and the CBR1000RR in a very broad generalization amounts to 179 units , which are 29% of the category and where Honda is also in first place.
In the group of large scooters the definition is very liberal and includes tools with a volume of 350 and above, where Honda has 24% of the market share with 1,750 deliveries, an increase of 41% in a total market of 7,309 units which increased by a percentage this year
. There it is represented by the CB650R, the Monki, the CB500F, the CB125F and other tools and it manages to register 12% of the market share which is enough for the third place.
Traffic congestion - one of the biggest incentives for the two-wheeler market - which is expected to only get worse in the coming years (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Honda believes that the trends that accompanied the market in 2022 and include the chip crisis, the war in Ukraine, logistics, supply and shipping challenges, the traffic jams and the resulting increase in demand for two-wheelers, will continue to accompany the coming year as well.
And these will be joined by the entry of electric models (more on that later) and difficulty for buyers in financing routes due to the increase in interest rates in the economy.
For her, the bigger challenges and where she will direct most of her efforts are those she has already started in recent years, such as building a community around the brand with activities for riders, strengthening her grip on the large scooter market, increasing the volume of sales in the small scooter market that is dominated by the cheaper brands, and more.
The new Honda Hornet.
The price is surprising, the motorcycle is more (photo: manufacturer's website)
In the basket of launches for the local market in 2023 you can find the new Hornet, which we rode just recently at the global launch.
You can read about what we thought about in the article, but the more interesting figure that the importer revealed is the price - NIS 54,500 - when it lands here in February, it will be a bit of a headache for those who were the most dominant in the mid-volume Niked market, the Yamaha MT07.
At that price, it's pretty safe to say he's going to be snapped up.
Another model with huge local potential is the Transalp, yes, with the same 750 engine of the Hornet, it brings back to life one of its successful and beloved models.
Its arrival in Israel is expected in April 2023, after which the price will also be revealed.
His reliance on the Hornet assemblies may suggest that he will not be far from it.
Back in April, the CL500, Honda's first entry into the scrambler segment.
The naked bikes in a retro design with dual-purpose tires.
Here the base is the Harbel 500, the manufacturer's custom motorcycle with the corresponding twin engine.
CL500 mid-volume scrambler based on the Herbel 500 (photo: manufacturer's website)
The year 2023 will mark the global Honda and also in the local market an entry into the worlds of electricity.
The first swallow will probably be the EM1e (Honda, you can spend 5 minutes finding a more normal name).
A tiny urban tool, with a removable battery, a very modest range of 40 km and a maximum speed of 45 km/h.
The tool may fit into a different purchase plan than usual - buying the tool itself "the iron" and using the batteries in a route where you rent a battery and return it to the charging station.
From the manufacturer's point of view, this scooter is the first of 5 additional models that will hit the market in 2023-2024.
But not just scooters.
Honda also has plans for electrified motorcycle models.
In 2024 and 2025, it intends to release 4 motorcycles, where 3 of them will be small models and one will be an off-road model for children.
New scooters will be part of Meir's electric arm (Photo: Keinan Cohen, Keinan Cohen)
At the importer, they do not limit their activity only to motorcycles, but intend to expand the more comprehensive approach to urban transportation, whether to private, institutional customers or in the field of "micro-mobility".
In the electrical field, they see significant growth potential in Israel, since while Europe is approaching 12% of the two-wheeled electric market in urban vehicles, Israel is still only at 2%.
Under its activity in this area, it will concentrate in a flagship store the sale of electric bicycles made by NIU, the sale of the manufacturer's electric scooters, with the main focus being business licensing routes for the electric scooters.
But the most fascinating tool in this field should be the MIA Dynamics 4-wheel off-road scooter that should go on sale in January 2023. From our static impression of the prototype - our curiosity bar to take it for a spin is very high.
Additional details about the tool are not completely final, but the price should not be cheap - about NIS 20,000.
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