The compact SUVs are not only growing in popularity in India, but all over the world. This increasingly popular segment in India however still has very limited number of manufacturers dominating the space, while the others are trying hard to bring in their own representatives as soon as possible. Honda is one amongst those car makers who still don’t have a vehicle in this immensely potential segment.
Honda Cars India is flying high with the success brought in the by the Amaze and the new City, while the Amaze has also made it tap the lucrative compact sedan segment in India. While the Amaze, Honda’s first diesel car in India is spearheading the company’s sales with the new City by its side, the company is now eager to tap the highly competitive compact SUV segment. Honda has still not able to bring an able compact SUV in India, as its new global Vezel compact SUV is not a feasible option for a price conscious market like India. Thus, Honda is working on a more affordable Brio based compact SUV for India and the other developing car markets of the world.
The interesting and exciting fact is that, while the Brio based compact SUV will be spacious, efficient and cost effective, it will also offer premium appeal as it will borrow lot of design cues from the bigger Vezel SUV. The front fascia of the upcoming Brio based compact SUV will be styled similar to that of the new Honda City and the 2014 Jazz, and be heavily laden with chrome garnishes. Honda Motor has also recently unveiled the new HR-V compact crossover at the 2014 New York Auto Show, which is the American spec of the Vezel, which will also go on sale in Canada. However, the Indian spec new Honda compact SUV though stylish and premium looking is expected to be far modest looking as compared to the American HR-V in order to keep its pricing competitive.
The new upcoming Honda compact SUV for the developing car markets including India will be based on the very able and versatile platform of the very popular hatchback Brio. The star performing Amaze compact sedan and the upcoming Mobilio MPV are also based on Brio’s platform. The Brio is by far the cheapest Honda car in India, which is very stylish, quality and efficient as well. The development of the new compact SUV on the Brio’s platform also proves the company’s trust on the same.
Under the hood, the upcoming Brio based compact SUV is likely to pack in the engine options from the Amaze, which comprises of the 1.2 liter i-VTEC petrol engine and the 1.5 liter i-DTEC turbo diesel motor.
As the upcoming compact SUV from Honda will be using all the localized components, it can be expected to be priced aggressively. The Brio based SUV is expected to hit production in 2017 thus there is still a lot of time for its India launch.
