Two 110cc bikes that cost as much as some 125cc motorcycles: Here’s why

The Hero Passion Pro, and Honda Livo cost more than their 125cc stablemates. The reasons could be purely marketing or is there more to it? We find out.

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The BS6 era has nearly ended the 110cc segment or so can be rightly said. Manufacturers like Yamaha and Suzuki moved away from the 100-110cc category while TVS has shied away from the 125cc bike space. In the case wherein manufacturers end up making both the categories, the prices of few of these motorcycles have overlapped. The first one that ended up doing this was Hero MotoCorp. When the new Hero Passion Pro was revealed in early 2020, the pricing was supposed to be the new norm for a 110cc bike. Now, with the launch of the Hero Passion Pro 10 Millionth edition, the front disc variant is priced at Rs 72,150, ex-Mumbai while the much more powerful and a category above Hero Super Splendor drum version retails for Rs 71,990. This may seem like an apple to oranges comparison but tell me one thing.

If you were in the market for a 110cc bike and I assume this has got vastly to do with your budget, wouldn’t you consider the bigger bike? I would if I were in your place. Though the fact that the Super Splendor disc brake version is a couple of thousand rupees more than the Passion Pro, it will be a very small amount in the EMI. Another bike maker that has done the same thing is Honda. When the Honda Livo BS6 prices were announced, I for one did go to the HMSI website to double-check the asking cost of the Shine BS6. Lo and behold, it was lesser than the Livo’s. As of now, the Honda Livo disc brake version is for Rs 75,661 whereas the Shine with a front drum brake is for Rs 73,225.

If you ask me, why does the product planning team think this in such a way, there is no specific answer. It could be economies of scale. The Honda Livo, for example, isn’t as robust a seller when compared with the Shine. This means the latter has more shared parts with other Honda products and hence HMSI could price it very competitively. Another reason could be that the 110cc bikes here offer a semi-digital instrument console compared to the analog versions on the 125cc.  As for Hero, the Millionth edition came in a year after the prices of the regular version were announced. During this time, the Passion Pro has seen multiple price increments.

Dealerships tell us that it is good business for them. Those who drop in for a lower version with higher features tend to easily upgrade to one segment above when they notice the price differential is marginal. In this case, the higher segment product has a lower cost too. Tell us what do you think of this pricing strategy by manufacturers?

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