Product Life Cycle

Introduction

Hero Honda, the ‘Worlds No.1’ two wheeler

manufacturer for the past 5 years in a row is a joint

venture between Hero Group of India and Honda of Japan.

Together they have not only created the world's single largest two

wheeler company but also one of the most successful joint ventures

worldwide.

Introduction

• Hero Honda CBZ was launched in early 1999 by Hero Honda Motors

India Ltd.

• It was the first sports oriented 4-stroke bike.

• Sporting an original Honda 156.8 cc engine, it made good 12.8PS of

power which was sufficient enough to propel it to 110 km/h.

• The styling of the bike was a scaled version of the famous Honda CB

series. Sufficient mid-range torque ensured a 0–60 km/h (0-37 mph)

in just 5 seconds.

• The over-square engine, that met Euro1, was fed by a Keihin slide

type carburetor with accelerator pump for better pick-up.

• It makes use of a larger spring operated nozzle to provide a richer

fuel air mixture into the engine for better acceleration.

• An air injection system injects fresh air into the exhaust port, to

meet the emission norms.

• CBZ was one of the first Indian 4-stroke bikes to feature a 5-speed

gearbox. Some two stroke bikes such as Yamaha RD350 had a six

speed box, while Yamaha RX-135 & Suzuki Shaolin had 5-speed

gearboxes.

• The close-ratio gearbox provided superior acceleration and roll-on

capabilities. The gearbox was well sorted to provide best

performance out of the peaky power plant which also lacked top-

end refinement.

Features

Hero Honda

Bajaj

TVS

Yamaha

LML

Kinetic

Royal Enfield

Majetic

51%51%

26%26%

11%11%

5%5%3%3%

2%2%

1%1%

1%1%

Growth

• CBZ went unchanged more or less for 5 years.

• But in 2004 a new variant called CBZ* (star) featuring new

graphics and Electric self-start was introduced to boost sales.

• The bike did not feature any engine or performance upgrades.

• The only change was in its carburetor, it was changed from the

Sliding Type carburetor to a conventional CV carburetor, which

increased the fuel-efficiency but hampered the pick-up, the

greatest feature of the bike.

Maturity

• The bike was discontinued after 2005 September.

• Reason for decline can be enumerated as:

- low mileage

- competitor entry in 150 segment

- Fit and Finish

The fit and finish of this bike is still not the Hero Honda

benchmark. The welding job on the Chassis looks a little shoddy.

Also the heat shield on the exhaust does not blend seamlessly.

Decline

• CBZ Xtreme is a 150 cc bike from Hero Honda Motors which is the

successor of the legend Hero Honda CBZ.

• The bike was introduced in the year 2007.

• Except for a mild resemblance to the older CBZ's headlamp, the

new CBZ Xtreme has little else in common.

• But the bike followed the grand success made by Hero Honda

CBZ.

Re-Launch of CBZ

• The turn indicators have been integrated into the headlamp

housing and the tail lamp cluster features a segmented stop and

brake light section with the turn indicators built into a single unit

that wraps around the brake light’s bottom side. Also LEDs have

been used replacing the conventional bulbs. The split hand grips

for the pillion rider serves in providing a different look.

• The new tinted cowl adds to the improved aerodynamics and

reflects the glamour of bike's instrumentation.CBZ Xtreme sports

has an asymmetric instrument panel with carbon matte finish.

There are analogue gauges, including an engine-rpm meter, a

speedometer and fuel gauge, in addition to high beam, turn and

neutral indicators

Design

• The CBZ Xtreme is certainly not the best looking bike in the

Market. It’s Looks and Styling may not be to everyone’s liking. The

front mini fairing is still a little conventional. If we ignore the front

fairing things start looking better. The instrument panel  The fuel

tank looks sporty. Hero Honda has kept the use Graphics stickers

to the minimal. This gives a very sporty look to bike. The Split

Grab rails at the back is also a first and looks very exotic.

Looks & Styling

CBZ seems to have borrowed the engine from Unicorn and

Achiever (they both share the same engine base). Only the

change is that the engine has been retuned for performance. This

works in the favor of CBZ as the engine is tried and tested. Above

all the engine is a Honda engine (they do not know how to make

bad engines). So reliability is not an issue. The engine returns 14.4

bhp power output. This figure is the best in 150cc segment. Higher

power also evident from the acceleration the bike gives. It reaches

from 0 to 60 Kmph in just above 5.5 seconds. This again is one of

the best acceleration figure in it’s segment. The bike feels very

stable at high speed and while cornering. Top speed is around 160

Kmph. The bike has 5 speed gear box.

Engine & Performance

Low Fuel efficiency was the reason why the original CBZ did not

hit the Bullz-Eye. The new CBZ X Treme does away with this

mistake. It returns a Mileage of 50 Kmph in hard city riding and 60

Kmph on Highway. This is very commendable considering, this

bike is basically a performance bike.

Fuel Efficiency

Hero Honda Profit Analysis

Conclusion

• The Hero Group's phenomenal growth is the

result of constant innovations, a close watch on

costs and the dynamic leadership of the Group

Chairman, characterized by an ethos of

entrepreneurship, of right attitudes and building

stronger relationships with investors, partners,

vendors and dealers and customers.

Presented BySagar

Vasumathi