Honda (Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India) looks all poised to take off in a big way in India now..
In 1981 there was a so called "Honda-Yamaha War" in which the two motorcycle giants fought for the title of the biggest 2 wheeler maker of the world. The "war" was initially started by Yamaha. What happened in the next 18 months is the stuff of legends.
Honda launched/replaced 113 models and Yamaha could manage just 37 (both had around 60 models when the "war" started). Apart from new models Honda went on the offensive to launch new technologies and aggressive distribution systems. Ultimately Yamaha had to make a public "Surrender"..!!
Learning from the above incident is loud and clear. Messing with Honda can be a messy affair.
In stark contrast to the famous "Honda Yamaha War", Honda's approach in India (HMSI) has been quite slow but steady. As evident from the graphic posted below, Honda in 2011-12 has increased their market share (in motorcycles) to around 7.6 % from a market share of 3.5 % in 2005-06.