"This (a low-price bike) has been on our horizon for a long time but we haven't been able to come up with a solution till now," Pawan Munjal, the company's managing director, said in an exclusive chat with DNA. "But this is not the end and we hope to come up with a solution... we continue to work on this."

The company controls 70% of the entry level bike (engine capacity above 75 cc but less than 125 cc) market and is equally comfortable straddling the less price-sensitive segments.

Munjal's admission comes at a time when arch rival Bajaj Auto is believed to be ready with a low-priced bike, which is being contract manufactured in China. Expected to be priced at around Rs 25,000, this 125cc bike would initially be sold in overseas markets including China before being launched in India. Going by vendors, this bike is most likely not a step-thru moped kind of vehicle and any cost advantage to Bajaj is largely on account of sourcing extensively from China.

For its product, then, Hero Honda will need to take India's frugal engineering prowess, as showcased in the Nano, to the next level.

Munjal is clear his 'Nano' bike must be very affordable. "Whatever we bring should certainly have a significant price advantage."

Also, there is no compromising on either durability or performance. "Just because we have an enhanced rural focus, it does not mean that rural customers can be offered products which do not stand the test of performance or durability. In fact, rural customers need sturdier vehicles (than urban ones)," said Munjal.

So it may be a regular motorcycle, after all.

Munjal cited Hero Honda's earlier experience with mopeds --- which he dubbed as "glorified cycles" --- to emphasise that performance and load carrying capacity were essential.

"We launched one of Honda Motor Co's most popular models in 1997, called the Street. It was a step thru motorcycle, an engineering marvel, but didn't quite work in India. Why? Because the customers saw it essentially as a moped and expected it be priced like one," he explained.

Vendors too indicate that any full-blooded low-priced vehicle for India would need to be developed from scratch, since the low-cost bikes Honda Motor sells in markets such as Thailand and China are all step-thru.