Showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo earlier this year, TVS Motor has commenced the production of the Start City+ 110cc motorcycle at the company’s Hosur facility in Tamil Nadu. The Star City+ is essentially an upgraded version of the Star City motorcycle with new features added to the list along with a more appealing body and new body graphics. The Star City+ will be competing with the Honda Dream Yuga, Mahindra Centuro, Suzuki Hayate, Hero Passion xPro and Bajaj Discover 100 Series in the segment.
TVS is looking to sell around 15,000 units of the Start City+ motorcycle every month, though initially the expected number is limited to 10,000 units per month. The bike will be launched in the first week of May in the northern parts of India which include Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar; and will be consecutively launched across the country by June this year.
The TVS Star City is powered by a 109.7cc, 4-stroke, eco-thrust DLI engine that produces 8.1 HP of power at 7500 RPM and 8.1 Nm of torque at 5000 RPM, paired to a 4-speed gearbox. The engine is known to be frugal with a claimed mileage of 83.9 km/l. You also get additional features such as all gear electric start, service reminder and digital speedometer. The company has sold over 4 million units of the Star brand.
TVS also reported a total sales with over 1.96 lakh units sold in March 2014, an increase of 17.44 percent compared to the same period, last year. The motorcycle market as a whole has been rather unaffected by the downtrend in the automotive market and has given two-wheeler manufacturers exceptional growth not only in the domestic markets, but overseas as well. The scooter segment too has shown signs of rapid growth compared to the motorcycle segment in the Indian two-wheeler market.
