Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) has filed patents for the ADV350 and Vario 160 scooters in our market. Both scooters are already on sale in international markets and Honda could be considering launching them here.
Maxi-scooter Honda ADV350 is powered by 29hp, 330cc engine
Vario 160 uses a 15.4hp, 156.9cc engine
However, Honda is known to file a lot of patents to safeguard its products for the future, like it did with the Scoopy scooter, the Grom mini bike, the NT1100 touring motorcycle, and most recently the U-go electric scooter, and so these latest patents could have been filed for a similar reason.
Honda ADV350: more details
The Honda ADV350 is a maxi-scooter with an off-road focus. The model was unveiled at EICMA 2021 and has since gone on sale in overseas markets like the UK. The ADV350 is powered by a 330cc, liquid cooled, single cylinder engine that puts out 29hp and 31.5Nm. The maxi-scooter gets hardware like a USD fork up front, twin shock absorbers at the rear, a 15-inch front wheel, 14-inch rear wheel and front and rear disc brakes with dual channel ABS.
The Honda ADV350 in the UK is priced at £5,699 (around Rs 5.50 lakh), which makes it pretty expensive. However, seeing the surprising success for the pricey BMW C400 GT (Rs 10.40 lakh, ex-showroom) maxi-scooter in India, Honda may just decide to bring the ADV350 here. Whether it will be via the CBU route or it will be assembled locally remains to be seen.
Currently, the only maxi-scooter that will come close to the ADV350 is the recently launched Keeway Vieste 300, which is priced at Rs 2.99 lakh (ex-showroom). However, the Honda is sure to be positioned much higher if at all it comes here.
Honda Vario 160: more details
Out of these two scooters, it’s perhaps the Honda Vario 160 that’s more relevant for our market. If launched, the Vario 160 will provide competition to premium scooters like the popular Yamaha Aerox 155 and the Aprilia SXR 160 in India. The Vario 160 is powered by a 156.9cc engine that produces 15.4hp and 13.8Nm, figures that are very comparable to the Aerox 155’s 15hp and 13.9Nm output.
However, if Honda wants to price the Vario 160 competitively and take a slice from the Aerox 155’s sales, Honda will have to assemble the scooter locally, like Yamaha does with the Aerox. The Vario 160 is currently sold in Indonesia, with prices starting at IDR 26,339,000 (around Rs 1.41 lakh).
Should Honda consider launching the ADV350 and Vario 160 in India? Let us know in the comments.