Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India (HMSI) announced that the Navi and Cliq will not make the BS6 cut and will be discontinued by April 2020. The announcement was made at the launch of the new, BS6-compliant Honda Activa 6G, that’s priced starting at Rs 63,912 onwards.
The Honda Activa is the bestselling scooter in the country, and it was only a matter of time before it was updated to meet the BS6 norms. The Navi and Cliq, on the other hand, have tasted limited success, nowhere close to the immensely successful Activa. And this is one of the reasons why Honda has decided to pull the plug on the models.
While the Navi and Cliq will be discontinued in India post-April 2020, Honda will continue to export the scooters to international markets. The Navi, for example, has seen huge success in Latin America.
“In some countries in Latin America, the Navi is the No 1 selling product in the total two-wheeler market. So we will continue the production of Navi for export markets, and there are numbers which are increasing year on year in terms of exports," said YS Guleria, senior VP (Sales and Marketing), HMSI.
Considered to be a close cousin of the Honda Grom sold abroad, the Navi did well in the first few months after its launch thanks to its unique design. That said, it wasn’t as practical an alternative to the Activa, especially for the traditional-scooter-loving populace.
The Honda Cliq, on the other hand, was built for the rural market, with its plastic body panels and dual-purpose tyres designed to take on the rough and narrow roads. It was an experiment that didn’t fetch Honda the sales it desired, and hence it makes sense for the Japanese manufacturer to avoid investing in it any further.
Honda is also hoping to export BS6-compliant two-wheelers and that its headquarters in Japan will give it the go-ahead soon.