[nishsingh]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

The Grom will never be on sale in India. It costs 1.35 lakhs ex showroom in its country of manufacture(Thailand). This Benelli might cost nearly a lakh in India.

Going by YouTube videos, the TNT 135 is already in Nepal. It costs Nepali Rupees 2.5 Lakhs, which translates to around 1.5 Lakhs INR.

Hopefully, Benelli will be able to localize it in India and price it lower.

[SuperMane]

Originally Posted by Avikbrio

If any of you guys follow the YouTube Channel 'RoyalJordanian', he sometimes uses the bike Honda MSX125 aka Grom with a full Akrapovic titanium carbon exhaust. It sounds absolutely fantastic! It gets a lot of looks even in the streets of London and is very fun to ride as well in the city.

Benelli might just hit this sweet spot if it prices the TNT-135 correctly. I love this kinds of bikes. I wanted to buy the Navi when I first saw it, but it is terribly underpowered, small, cheap build and very basic instrument cluster put me off. If this succeeds somewhat, it might force Honda to bring in the Grom!

http://http://www.honda.co.uk/motorc.../overview.html

Huge fan of his channel. Mostly his videos are zipping through traffic for which I do think Grom does the job well compared to liter class nakeds. And then there is the ever so precious husky(what would I give to have one for myself!).

Agree to disagree about the Navi though.For our traffic scenario in a metro city, it serves really well. Ever since I rode one of friends,stuck at traffic jams with my duke390 , I often think about sliding through that narrow gap only if I was riding the Navi.Could it do better with more power?YESS!Is it underpowered?No.For the price and weight it has, it is still fun. Whereas benelli is going to be in a different price range for sure.Looking forward to it!

[Dr.Ameya]

They are not going to launch it here. Another one bites the dust.

https://www.motorbeam.com/2017/05/bi...to-honda-navi/

[payeng]

Originally Posted by Dr.Ameya

They are not going to launch it here. Another one bites the dust.

Obvious isn't it?

It was never going to sell in enough numbers to get Benelli profit. Even the 39K priced NAVI is barely making a mark.

[Dr.Ameya]

Originally Posted by payeng

It was never going to sell in enough numbers to get Benelli profit

Well you cant exactly compare the NAVI with the Benelli 135. Honda promised the Grom and did the good ol Kansas city shuffle and brought the NAVI(personally i feel the NAVI is a dreadful excuse for a scooter). The Benelli 135 is like a far more nimble and hectic machine. Sadly if Benelli does want to break in to the Indian market they will have to come up with a strategy similar to Aprilia ie the SR150.


Its just that I feel that as a Indian consumer we miss out on so many good bikes and scooters especially in the middle range price bracket thanks to every other company trying to be the next Honda Activa or the Hero Splendor.

[payeng]

Originally Posted by Dr.Ameya

Well you cant exactly compare the NAVI with the Benelli 135. Honda promised the Grom and did the good ol Kansas city shuffle and brought the NAVI(personally i feel the NAVI is a dreadful excuse for a scooter).

Honda NEVER promised anything. And Yeah NAVI "is" a scooter.

Originally Posted by Dr.Ameya

The Benelli 135 is like a far more nimble and hectic machine. Sadly if Benelli does want to break in to the Indian market they will have to come up with a strategy similar to Aprilia ie the SR150.

The Vespa and Aprilia aren't doing great numbers... what chance would Benelli have?

Originally Posted by Dr.Ameya

Its just that I feel that as a Indian consumer we miss out on so many good bikes and scooters especially in the middle range price bracket thanks to every other company trying to be the next Honda Activa or the Hero Splendor.

That's because the Activa + Splendor sells about 6-7 Lakhs (combined) every month out of the 10 Lakh odd 2 wheelers sold in India every month. That too since 2001 (Activa) and 1994 (Splendor).

Well Mahindra did try the "Mojo" (sells 100 odd numbers every month) didn't they? The CBR250R production line was also set up in India. Want to experiment? Difficult to convince the board and takes a brave executive, especially if its Your Job on the line.


By the way.. AHEM I do ride a NAVI for my Commute.. and its an Awesome "scooter".