Honda is expanding its line-up in India and to do so, they are coming up with competitive products. The Mobilio MPV will be launched very soon and it seems to be quite an impressive one. It is based on the Brio platform and is powered by the engines borrowed from Honda City. Honda Vezel is another impressive vehicle that might make it to the Indian shores sometime next year. It is an attractive compact urban SUV based on the Honda Jazz platform. It was showcased first at the 2013 Detroit motor show. It will be Honda’s entry in the competitive crossover segment.
The Honda Vezel, as we already said is based on the Honda Jazz and shares various design elements with the Jazz and City. It is 4.3 meters long which is almost the same as the Honda City. It follows Honda’s familiar H design scheme. With all the elements in place, it looks much like a scaled down CR-V which isn’t a bad thing at all. It gets LED headlamps and an impressive grille. The grille gets a thick chrome panel like the present City. The headlamps extend deep into the bonnet and into the sides.
There are some nice lines rising along the length of the car. The glass on rear slopes down along the roof into the boot. The rear door handles are hidden in the glass section. The wheels are large and to give it a mighty presence, it has got flared wheel arches. The boot section looks nice with the large tail lamps that extend into the boot lid. The rear windscreen is small and comes with a tiny spoiler above it. Even though it has got small dimensions, it has got quite an impressive presence due to the design.
The impressive design is seen on the inside as well. It comes with dark interiors which would remind you of the costlier CR-V. The dashboard design is simple and it gets an impressive center console. The console features a touch screen infotainment system, steering mounted controls and touch screen climate control. You get push button start on this car along with keyless entry. You get other equipment like rear parking sensors and safety features like ABS and EBD. The Indian version is likely to come with beige interiors similar to the other top of the line variants in our market.
The engine options are what you find on the Honda City. The petrol engine is the popular 1.5 l i-VTEC engine with a peak power of 116 bhp. It will also get the diesel option that we see on the Honda City diesel. It has a capacity of 1.5 l and generates a peak power of 98 bhp. These engines will come mated to a 5 speed manual gearbox. This new car will be priced north of 8 lakh when it comes to India and will compete against the Renault Duster, Ford EcoSport and Nissan Terrano. Expect it to come out in 2015.
