Honda to launch New mopeds meeting new emissions rules
Honda Motor Co. said Thursday that it will release three new versions of its Super Cub motorcycle on Dec. 11, the industry's first mopeds to meet Japan's stricter emissions standards taking effect next month.
The new Super Cubs start at 341,000 yen. Honda aims to sell 6,500 units annually.
The company decided last year to end production of 50 cc Cubs, which are difficult to meet the new emissions rules.
Instead of keeping 50 cc Cubs, classified as category-1 mopeds, alive, Honda lowered the engine output of conventional 110 cc models, which belong to category 2, to qualify as category 1.
First introduced in 1958 under the oversight of Honda founder Soichiro Honda, the Super Cub series has sold more than 120 million units worldwide.
The market for category-1 motorbikes is "structurally difficult to expand but remains too significant to ignore," said Katsuhiro Murooka, president of Honda Motorcycle Japan Co.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
