Latest Car News in India

Honda diesel cars to foray in India from 2014

Honda Cars India Limited, the Indian subsidiary of the globally renowned Japanese automaker, after tallying an impressive sales surge of 15.76 percent in the month of September will be rolling out its first diesel powered model in the year 2014 in India. The company has also confirmed that the foray in diesel powered car market won’t be marked by its bestselling Honda Brio hatchback.

Recently, Mr. Takanobu Ito, CEO of Honda Motor Company affirmed that the first diesel run car will be launched in the Indian auto market and the engine will be produced locally. While indicating the company’s plans of setting up a new diesel engine manufacturing facility, it is also expected that the pricing structure of the diesel variants will be highly competitive owing to the production localisation. The company is determined to hold back the engine specification related details in this preliminary stage.  

Honda Cars India has been losing out of the competition in the Indian car market due to lack of diesel powered cars resulting in a chop in the market stake while giving an edge to the fiercest rivals in the country. Despite owning a competitive portfolio, absence of diesel variants in addition to the mounting petrol fuel prices, interest rates along with dwindling value of domestic currency in the exchange market has further placed constraints for the car maker in India. The constraints have already raised the price bar to a maximum of 2.6 percent of the top notch models from of its stable like Honda Brio, Honda Jazz and Honda City.

The petrol only ranged automaker has also revealed that Asia, which possesses highly diversified car markets, will be introduced with new sedan and utility vehicle rendition of the highly successful Brio hatchback along with the all new Honda Fit series.  While many automakers are gearing for the high festive season sales by luring the customers with new or revamped models, Honda is endeavouring to launch the much awaited automatic version of Honda Brio, which is a significant sales pooler for the company. The automatic Brio to be introduced on 18th  October will be tagged at a price higher by Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 70,000 while boasting the 1.2 liter iVTEC engine with an enhanced fuel efficiency of 16.5 kmpl.