21 Hero Honda Karizma FI (Fuel Injection) on the cards..!!

UPDATE (11'th Nov. 2008): Check out this new Post "When will the Fuel Injected Hero Honda Karizma arrive..??"

"Karizma FI on cards" says Overdrive.com.

"New 223cc Karizma FI to take on the Pulsar 220 DTS-Fi"

According to the magazine, Hero Honda will soon launch a F.I (fuel-injected) version of its 223cc Karizma in the coming few months.

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Also according to the magazine, the Fuel Injected version is not expected to sport features like rear disc brakes or self cancelling turn indicators, features which its arch rival Bajaj Auto's soon to be released Fuel Injected Pulsar 220 will come equipped with. To make matters worse for Hero Honda, there is also an expected increase in the price of the already "pricey" carburetted version of the Karizma.

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The company had announced at the launch of the Glamour FI plans to introduce other models with Honda’s new age PGM-FI technology which includes its 150cc offering the Achiever as well.

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If the above speculations are to be true, I can't really comprehend the logic behind these launches.

• First: Sales of the 125 c.c version from Hero Honda (Super Splendor & Glamour (Yuck!! What a cheesy name)) have not really set the sales charts on fire as expected and are well behind Bajaj Auto's 125 c.c model the Discover. So the logic behind the choice of the 125 c.c Glamour as the model for introduction of the Fuel Injection technology for Hero Honda beats me really. What Hero Honda has managed to do in the process is price the 125 c.c Fuel Injected bike quite close to 150 c.c segment. Now apart from the exceptional fuel efficiency (which the fuel injected 125 c.c Hero Honda seems to provide) why would the customer buy a less powerful 125 c.c when he can get a carburreted but more powerful 150 c.c for almost the same money. And if it's fuel efficiency that the customer cares, wont he go in for a much cheaper 100 c.c alternative?

• Second: In order to take the thunder away from the Bajaj Pulsar 150 (the market leader in the 150 c.c class) why did Hero Honda not offer a Fuel Injected CBZ Xtreme? Maybe they could have provided that at least as an option. Also what is another 150 c.c model the Achiever (Sheesh..!! Another Cheesy name) doing along with the CBZ Xtreme..??

• Third: If Hero Honda decides just to introduce Fuel Injection in the present 223 c.c Karizma without any significant increase in both engine c.c (a 250 maybe) and power (from the present 17 b.h.p), not mentioning goodies like Rear Disc brakes, Oil Cooled Engine, Projector Headlamps, Self Cancelling Turn indicators etc. which won't be provided (Which the Bajaj Pulsar 220 will definitely provide). Then History would repeat itself. "Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTSFi would kill the Karizma 223 Fi like the Pulsar killed the Original CBZ"a

Its quite clear that Hero Honda will find it difficult to price its products below Bajaj's price in any segment. So I guess It's not rocket science to deduct that if Hero Honda fails to differentiate its products in its favor, then all it can do is watch Bajaj laugh all the way to the bank and lose its market leader position to Bajaj.

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