Honda's cheap bikes ease market pain

Vanida Paipong, a 33-year-old noodle factory worker in Thailand's Ubon Ratchathani province, pays installments of 5,000 baht ($140) a month on her 100cc Honda CZ-i motorcycle. She bought the bike in February after her last Honda motorbike lasted 10 years, hauling friends and family over dirt roads, without needing much maintenance, she said.

"That motorcycle was worth every baht," said Paipong, who said the sticker price on the CZ-i was 38,000 baht ($1,050). "I was willing to pay a premium to buy a Honda."

Surging unemployment in the US and Japan, Honda's two largest markets, has smothered demand for $22,000 Accord sedans and $28,000 Pilot sport-utility vehicles. Incoming president Takanobu Ito, who commutes to work on a 546,000-yen Honda XR250 Baja motorbike, will have to rely on new motorcycle models in Southeast Asia to avoid the losses plaguing Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co - neither of which make two-wheelers.