Honda R&D Investment, headquartered in China, announced an investment to establish Honda Motorcycle Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., with the main objective of selling medium and large displacement motorcycles in China. The new company was founded in late December 2023, will be based in Shanghai, and is expected to start its operations on April 1, 2024, according to information released by Western and Japanese media.
The news could have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for the fact that the Chinese dealer is expanding more and more into the 500 cc range, and moreover, sport motorcycles are quite popular in this market with about 800,000 units per year in the segment of over 200 cc.
In recent years, Chinese manufacturers have presented several four-cylinder sport models at national shows, sometimes with engines and technical and stylistic solutions inspired by other Japanese or Western models. This focus on four-cylinder sport models may have helped convince Honda to enter the market more decisively and directly with its own products, a choice that would lead it to compete against QJ Motor, VOGE, Kove, or Zonsen, but also against CFMOTO, which, in addition to the three-cylinder 675 for the global market, also has a 500 cc four-cylinder already presented as a prototype.
Honda is already present in the Chinese market with the CBR650R, a motorcycle that probably… inspired some competitors, but with this new company – according to rumors – something specific for the Chinese market is expected. Which models will be chosen, which segments will be targeted, and whether the motorcycles will have new designs or adaptations of existing designs, no one can say at the moment. Only the start of operations of the new company will clarify in which direction the Japanese giant intends to move forward.
