More Expensive Than The Meteor 350
The Honda H’Ness CB350 had a highly successful launch a few months ago when it was introduced to the market as a direct competitor to the Royal Enfield Meteor 350. The launch was actually so successful that Honda managed to move 1000 units in less than a month, but now that sales figures are soaring sky-high, Honda has decided a price hike is in the cards for this low-displacement retro-inspired motorcycle; and that will apply to both model variants (the DLX and DLX Pro trim levels).
This is a questionable move, since the entire point of this motorcycle was to complete with the Meteor 350, yet with the bikes being so similar in styling and displacement it will prove difficult for buyers to pick the Honda over the Royal Enfield now that the pricing has fluctuated (unless of course they are a Honda guy/gal and need red in their life).
For context – before moving to the CB pricing – the Royal Enfield Meteor 350 currently sits between Rs 1.76 lakh ($2400 USD) and Rs 1.90 lakh ($2590 USD) depending on which trim level you select. The base CB350 is now the same price as the highest trim level Meteor 350 ‘Supernova’ with Honda deciding that Rs 1.86 lakh ($2540 USD) is a comfortable range for the base model to sit at. If you’re keen on getting the higher trim level with some better options included, you are looking at spending around Rs 1.92 lakh.
At the end of the day, we will see what this means for the success of the H’Ness CB350 over time in regards to the direct competition with Royal Enfield. Hopefully, this won’t stagger sales too much and we can see the CB350 live a healthy lifespan.