Honda Cars India is in a great success mode and is already the 3rd largest car maker in the Indian car market. The Japanese car maker is in high spirits and is launching a great range of new car models along with their able diesel counterparts. Honda India has greater growth plans for the future and intends to further defeat India’s largest UV manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, which it has already beaten in monthly sales due to Mahindra’s lack of proper compact SUV models.
Honda HR-V SUV
However, Honda Cars India itself does not have any representative in the Indian compact SUV segment which is highly potential. The compact SUV segment is attracting all the Indian car majors including the market leader Maruti Suzuki and second largest Hyundai Motor, both of which are working on their own mini SUV models to be launched in India very soon.
Honda Cars India is thus also planning to build up its success story further in the country by launching its own baby SUV. Honda India’s Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Jnaneshwar Sen has confirmed that the company is also studying the domestic market for a possible launch.
Earlier it was thought that Honda India would bring in the new Vezel or a Vezel based compact SUV in India. However, Honda soon figured out that this premium model is not feasible for the Indian car market. Thus, now it is speculated that the Japanese car major is developing a new compact SUV based on the very versatile Brio platform which has been utilized for the Brio, Amaze and Mobilio. The new Brio based baby SUV from Honda is expected to be very cost effective due to its high localization making it perfect for India.
Post its market launch the new Honda sub-4 meter SUV is going to fight against the likes of the current segment leader Ford EcoSport, and a lot more compact SUVs from Maruti, Hyundai, Mahindra and Tata Motors.
Maruti Suzuki is making its sub-4 meter compact SUV based on the XA Alpha concept, while it is soon going to launch the sub-compact S-Cross crossover to enter the potential segment sooner. Hyundai Motor is also confirmed to be launching its new ix25 SUV in India and is currently testing the vehicle in the country. However, the Hyundai ix25 is also a sub-compact model with a length more than 4 meters and thus, will compete with the likes of the Renault Duster and Nissan Terrano.
Honda India has also entered the Indian MPV market for the first time with the launch of the new Mobilio which has already got 20,000 bookings. Internationally, Honda is ready to launch its Vezel or HR-V in the American and European markets, which is already mentioned as not coming to India.
Honda’s upcoming Brio based compact SUV is also expected to be a great hit in India following the examples of the Amaze and the Mobilio, though the company is yet to confirm it.
