Latest Car News in India

Honda Brio sedan in the making, launch early next year

It is after many pangs that Honda has suffered in 2011 that the car maker is all set to make things right for itself this year and the coming year. To initiate the comeback effort Honda will be launching the Honda Brio Diesel and the Brio based sedan soon to target the entry level segments in India. As per the information available, Honda too has sensed that the car market ahead in India will be governed by diesel cars and there is no place for its petrol variants when petrol prices have gone up drastically recently. Notably, Honda and Maruti India were the most affected by the recent petrol price hike and after Maruti has already shifted its focus on diesel cars, this Japanese car maker is on track to transform its portfolio into driving Honda diesel cars in India.

Since the launch of Brio hatchback last year, Honda has stepped on to the right path as there was no entry level car in India in its stable. Soon, Brio was preferred over Maruti Alto, Hyundai Eon and other small cars in India. But things went wrong and petrol prices pulled down petrol car sales in the country. Brio and Maruti Alto were the worst sufferers besides other petrol cars offered by other car makers. However, in a short span of over six months, Brio has made its space in India and it has sold well in whatever numbers. Absence of diesel variant has severely hurt its sales and it is expected that Honda car sales in the country will improve only after the car maker introduces diesel variants of its cars in India.

Now that there are reports floating over the internet that Honda is developing a sedan based on Brio, it is expected that Honda has plans to offer an offering in the price segment under Honda City. It is believed that with some design changes it would be more like an experiment that Maruti did with Maruti Swift to make Maruti Swift Dzire and what Tata did to Tata Indica to make Tata Indigo, what Skoda did to Skoda Fabia and turned it into Skoda Rapid and what VW did to Volkswagen Polo to form Volkswagen Vento. Thus the idea is in consonance to the trend and is well tried and tested one and Honda must expect the Brio sedan to be an instant hit.