A scooter for everyone

Last week I linked you to news about a teaser campaign for a new Honda two-wheeled vehicle about to be introduced in India. The "invite" read "Ready to Fly" with the date, June 12th.  There was no specific information on whether the vehicle would be a motorcycle or a scooter, but bloggers seemed to all assume it would be a scooter, which speaks to the demand for automatics there. 

Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India is the leader in the scooter market (with 50 per cent of the sales according to The Times of India) so is the one to watch for new trends.

Yesterday the compact Activa-I scooter was revealed as another brand in the Honda line-up. I'm linking to one story about its release because I love the picture included there. As I've written before, manufacturers have struggled with how to maintain the growth in female riders while attracting male riders to scooters. I think the pictures shows how Honda is trying to appeal to both genders with this scooter. Notice the muted colours, (one may even say unisex) and the choice of rider/models for the reveal.

That was my first reaction but it was one confirmed by reading The Times, although I would never in a million years have figured it out they way they did. "Activa-I is determinedly unisex with its indicators, front headlight, muffler and tail light in complete synergy with the overall line of looks." (June 12,2013) Huh!

 Photo from story below.

http://www.indiancarsbikes.in/scooters/honda-launched-activa-i-scooter-at-price-of-rs-44200-ex-showroom-delhi-71294/