Honda hikes prices

It was inevitable, and there have been winds of rumor about this for a few months, but Honda has finally done it. The Metropolitan scooter now retails for $2,399, the Ruckus retails at $2,499, and the silverwing is at $8,499. The venerable Rebel has even seen a price hike from $3,399 to $3,999. Those are only the scooters and the Rebel. I don't have any info on the prior pricing of their other bikes to work with.

I found speculation this morning on Urbanscootin.com as to the reason for the price hikes, but it seems the wind of opinion ranges from, "Honda doesn't care about their customers." to, "perhaps it's the exchange between the Yen to the Dollar."

Personally, I'm inclined to think it has more to do with the current economic slump and the value of both the Dollar and Yen. I would think that cutting costs within the company, starting with the perks at the top, would be more effective than hiking the cost of products in an already weak economy. Of course, if scooter sales did as well in the first quarter of this year as they did in the last two quarters of last year, that may be a moot issue. I'm fairly certain the numbers were not nearly as good, simply judging from the scooters still sitting in showrooms at local dealers.

It will be interesting to see how this effects Honda, and how other companies react with their own pricing.