The Hindu Business Line : CBZ's second coming

Many of us will remember the Hero Honda CBZ as probably the bike that was a bit ahead of its times. It had the unmistakable mark of Hero Honda writ all over it — reliable, well made and relatively fuel-efficient.

But it was ahead of its times, as its design, build quality and its poorer fuel efficiency, compared to Hero Honda's hot selling economy model the Splendor, must have all been negative factors as far as prospective buyers of that time were concerned.

Now, after the launch and modest success of the Glamour and Achiever, Hero Honda's acceptance amongst the now burgeoning 150cc segment buyers has definitely improved. With increased buyer expectations in the executive segment of the bike market, both in the engine and build quality parameters, Hero Honda would obviously want to attempt capturing a larger share of this pie.

And so, the CBZ it seems is set for a second coming. After having been a loner at the top and then having been edged out of the market by freshers (then) — like the Bajaj Pulsar, the Honda Unicorn and more recently the TVS Apache — the CBZ will again hit the road.

Market rumour has it that Hero Honda has completely revamped, redesigned and re-engineered the old CBZ, so much so that it just could been renamed too as an all-new bike.

But the CBZ brand has good recall amongst prospective bike buyers in the segment and so Hero Honda seems to have decided to retain this name. As a result, what will soon roll out nationally is the new CBZ Executive, a more modern looking and performing 150cc plus segment bike, that sports an all new engine and chassis.

After the original was launched first in 1999, the CBZ was put through a marginal and ineffective cosmetic redesign exercise a couple of years ago. But the CBZ Starstill couldn't help it post more volumes on Hero Honda's sales charts. The new CBZ Executive may be able to do better than that.

However, Hero Honda will still have to work on the bike buyer's mind space to move away from being identified as only a manufacturer of economy bikes. At least, the company will have a strong brand in CBZ working for it.

The old CBZ is off the company's Web site too, it will be replaced soon by the new model. Wait for it.

More Stories on : Two/Three Wheelers | Strategy | Hero Honda Motors Ltd

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