Honda's fake-buster gets faked
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Honda's fake-buster gets faked
HANOI (Reuters) - A cut-price motorcycle Honda introduced in the booming Vietnamese market just over two months ago to counter a flood of Chinese fakes is itself facing competition from even cheaper Chinese fakes.
Lawyers for the Japanese company said imitations of Honda's Wave Alpha model began appearing in mid-March, just weeks after the original came onto the market.
Pham & Associates, Honda's industrial property representative in Vietnam, said the Chinese-made machines were adaptations of an earlier imitation of a Honda model.
It said some Vietnamese firms had been assembling fakes from Chinese parts.
A motorcycle salesman in Ho Chi Minh City said his shop was selling the fakes at about eight million dong each, compared with around 13 million dong for a real one produced by Honda's joint-venture in Vietnam.
"They are fakes of the Wave Alpha model, and were produced in China," he said.
Honda released the Wave Alpha model in Vietnam at half the cost of its regular models to counter a huge influx of low-cost Chinese imitations almost identical to real Hondas, but using lower-quality components.
Some are sold under the brand-name "Hongda" but many shops and customers simply rebadge them with Honda nameplates and stickers.
Chinese imitations of Japanese motorcycles began appearing in Vietnam in 1998, selling for a half or a third of the price of genuine models.
They have been so successful they now dominate the market, accounting for some 80 percent of total share, against 20 percent for Honda.
The latest problem for Honda comes as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected in Hanoi at the weekend as the first Japanese leader to visit in four years. Among the issues between the two countries is intellectual property rights.
Motorcycles have been a boom industry in Vietnam in recent years. There are more than eight million on the roads and 1.8 million were sold last year alone -- or nearly 5,000 a day.
The Vietnam Association of Bicycles and Motorcycles -- whose members assemble many of the hundreds of thousands of imitation Hondas made from Chinese parts sold each year in Vietnam -- first responded to the cut-price Wave Alpha by accusing Honda of using too many Chinese parts in the model.
HANOI (Reuters) - A cut-price motorcycle Honda introduced in the booming Vietnamese market just over two months ago to counter a flood of Chinese fakes is itself facing competition from even cheaper Chinese fakes.
Lawyers for the Japanese company said imitations of Honda's Wave Alpha model began appearing in mid-March, just weeks after the original came onto the market.
Pham & Associates, Honda's industrial property representative in Vietnam, said the Chinese-made machines were adaptations of an earlier imitation of a Honda model.
It said some Vietnamese firms had been assembling fakes from Chinese parts.
A motorcycle salesman in Ho Chi Minh City said his shop was selling the fakes at about eight million dong each, compared with around 13 million dong for a real one produced by Honda's joint-venture in Vietnam.
"They are fakes of the Wave Alpha model, and were produced in China," he said.
Honda released the Wave Alpha model in Vietnam at half the cost of its regular models to counter a huge influx of low-cost Chinese imitations almost identical to real Hondas, but using lower-quality components.
Some are sold under the brand-name "Hongda" but many shops and customers simply rebadge them with Honda nameplates and stickers.
Chinese imitations of Japanese motorcycles began appearing in Vietnam in 1998, selling for a half or a third of the price of genuine models.
They have been so successful they now dominate the market, accounting for some 80 percent of total share, against 20 percent for Honda.
The latest problem for Honda comes as Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected in Hanoi at the weekend as the first Japanese leader to visit in four years. Among the issues between the two countries is intellectual property rights.
Motorcycles have been a boom industry in Vietnam in recent years. There are more than eight million on the roads and 1.8 million were sold last year alone -- or nearly 5,000 a day.
The Vietnam Association of Bicycles and Motorcycles -- whose members assemble many of the hundreds of thousands of imitation Hondas made from Chinese parts sold each year in Vietnam -- first responded to the cut-price Wave Alpha by accusing Honda of using too many Chinese parts in the model.
I once wrecked a Honda Cub (C90 type thingy) whilst in Hanoi - I was too pissed to walk so thought the sensible option was to ride home 
. Wrong 
Anyway, the front wheel/forks/lights/handlebars/bodywork/stand & battery were scrap. The locals repaired it for 100 US dollars. Bet none of those bits were made in a Honda factory!
. Wrong Anyway, the front wheel/forks/lights/handlebars/bodywork/stand & battery were scrap. The locals repaired it for 100 US dollars. Bet none of those bits were made in a Honda factory!
quote:
Wasn't the old Kawasaki Z650 twin an exact copy of a BSA something or other? The main differences being as follows, it didn't break down or leak oil it started first time every time, and was cheap to buy. What goes around comes around as they say.
Quinny.
Strange how all the old british bikes are portrayed as leaky, unreliable, difficult to start.
The first bike I rode was a Norton 88 when I was 10, I later owned or rode Dot, DMW, Greeves, BSA, Triumph, Norton, Velocette, Royal Enfield, Vincent, Panther, Rudge, Ariel, Corgi, Lambretta, Vespa (sorry about those), Gilera, Ducatti, Capriollo, NSU, Mobylette, Itom, DKW, Honda and Suzuki. A fair sample? The Itom was reluctant to start, the DKW was unreliable, the Honda the only brand new bike, leaked oil and the indicators fell off due to metal fatigue. The Suzuki used to vibrate screws, nuts and bolts etc off. The Capriollo had a saucer cam made of cheese. The BSA Bantam engine used to run backwards sometimes if you kick started it in gear, try that for a laugh if you stall at the lights. But backward Bantam apart the British bikes didn't leak oil, they always started first or second kick and I never broke down on the road on any of them.
What was I doing wrong?
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