The ADV160 was one of the ten two-wheelers showcased by Honda in July this year. Last month, the company announced prices and opened pre-bookings for it and the Rebel 300. At the time, it had also specified that deliveries for both will begin in October. Now, Honda has delayed the deliveries to next year.
- Localising and scaling up manufacturing appears to be a challenge at the moment
- ADV160 will be available via Honda BigWing and RedWing dealerships
- Pre-bookings are still open
Honda ADV160 is one of six brand-new products for India
What community is saying on the ADV160?
Has better equipment and availability than its direct rivals
While there’s no official confirmation on the reason for the postponement, we believe it to be production-related. Honda had announced that manufacturing for all ten vehicles will happen locally. Six of those vehicles were brand-new to India (except for the CB350 series and the Rebel 500, which was previously a CBU). Even for a manufacturer of Honda’s scale, that is a challenge on various accounts, and that is perhaps why deliveries for the ADV160 have been delayed.
It is a little disheartening nevertheless, as the ADV160 was Honda’s foray into this segment of scooters in India, and its on-paper specs make it ready to take on the direct rivals, the Yamaha Aerox 155 and Hero Xoom 160. Honda chose to make the ADV160 available across both BigWing and RedWing, which immediately gave its scooter an advantage in terms of availability. On the other hand, the Aerox and the Xoom have limited availability. Yamaha only sells the Aerox out of its Blue Square dealerships, a smaller sub-network of its overall sales and service network. Hero has limited the Xoom 160 to its Premia dealerships, a different dealer network for its premium offerings.
Honda had announced the prices and opened pre-bookings for the ADV160 and Rebel 300 together. Currently, the Rebel 300 appears to be on track for Q3 2026 deliveries, and we hope it stays that way. Pre-bookings for the ADV160 are still open for Rs 5,000. Honda’s website says deliveries for the ADV160 will commence after the New Year, and we can only hope that means they will start in January 2027.
Vishal Venugopal
Ved Janve
