*Rumour* : Honda Civic to be pulled off from India

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

No one will be left in the lurch.

It's not only to do with spare parts. The overall depreciation to such a top model and the brand as a whole is unforgivable.

Honda needs to renew its commitment to India immediately.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by dkaile

It's not only to do with spare parts. The overall depreciation to such a top model and the brand as a whole is unforgivable.

Honda needs to renew its commitment to India immediately.

When Honda discontinued the Old Honda City type 2 Vtec, the resale value shot through the roof. Demand went up and it became a collectors piece.

The Civic is still the choice for enthusiasts in the C2 segment and it's exclusivity will only go up now that it is no longer available.

Overall Civic owners should be smiling.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Overall Civic owners should be smiling.

Your persistent optimism reminds me of the famous Ghalib couplet "Dil Ko Behlane Ke Liye Khayal Achha Hai" but all current Civic owners may not agree with you and are much more aware of the ground realities. I just spoke a cousin who recently bought a Civic and he is shocked by this news as will many other Civic owners.

[srishiva]

Guys, they are just stopping the current model. Civic itself is not discontinued.

I am not sure about the resale values going up given that there will be very few enthusiasts willing to have a Petrol Civic. General public will not be much interested.

[vikramv1]

This news will however help bump up sales of both the City and the Accord if the potential customer sticks to Honda as a brand. However, this is a right move.

I remember last year when i test drove both the City and the Civic. My heart said Civic, but practical sense prevailed and I bought the City. Civic was simply not good enough given high running costs of petrol prices and lower mileage figures.

[Sommos]

The Civic was a very good car both from the exterior design and interiors.
By discontinuing the Civic, Honda has no other offering in the D1 segment.
The Accord and the CRV is also not doing well in the D2 segment.

Does this mean Honda is shifting from a premium car manufacturer to the base level player with the Brio, Jazz and the City. Honda have got sufficient time to develop and introduce the diesel variants for the Indian market. I do not understand why Honda is so reluctant about bringing the diesel engine to India.

[sarthakgupta]

I think the same fate awaits the Accord and CR-V when they will enter their next model years.

Present Civic has been replaced in Thailand from where Honda sources parts and components. Since there is no production of present Civic, it can't be continued in India. Now when CR-V and Accord enter new model years (most probably in petrol only guise - since diesel models of Honda are manufactured in Europe for European consumption only), Honda can very well anticipate demand levels and thus will not launch them in India.

[R2D2]

I am not quite sure what to make of this decision by Honda Siel - but it gives me a seriously negative vibe. Is it that they believe the Civic is not selling and therefore not worth spending time, money and effort on manufacturing and marketing it?

Or, is it something to do with their financial issues that surfaced a few months back and they want to realign their product mix to only those that sell (Brio/Jazz/City combined) + their flagship sedan the Accord. Or, will the Accord too meet the same fate one day?

Yes, the 2012 Civic was a let down for most - it would be difficult to fill the rather large shoes of the 8th gen Civic - but Honda could have introduced the so called 'redesigned' model. Finding their current diesel engines not suitable for India doesn't wash - if it doesn't suit India retune/re-engineer it or get a 3rd party engine manufacturer to supply the engine. I think they would reap the rewards of introducing a diesel quickly.

One thing stands out clearly in that article - there's no word on if and when the Civic model will be reintroduced. As an ex-Honda owner it sends the wrong message. Forget about the resale values of Civics or other models - I'd be concerned about buying any Honda in India - period. These people could pull the plug on a model at any time.

Honda the Hare & Toyota the Tortoise. That's what it looked like back in the early to mid 2000s when Toyota was seen dragging its feet and not introducing new and/or revamped models. We now know that the Tortoise will finally win the race.

Originally Posted by dkaile

but all current Civic owners may not agree with you and are much more aware of the ground realities. I just spoke a cousin who recently bought a Civic and he is shocked by this news as will many other Civic owners.

+1 If I had a Civic I'd be really uncomfortable. Unusual for a manufacturer to discontinue a well appreciated car model without introducing a successor OR giving any indication if it will be reintroduced after a while.

[StarScream]

In my opinion this is a wrong decision by Honda. The Civic, diesel or no diesel, was a halo product that rubbed off on the brand and products in lower segments. By discontinuing the model, Honda has accepted defeat. In a customers' minds this will be just one more sign of Honda's decline in India following the Civic Hybrid disaster and City and Jazz price cuts.

Not to mention that this is a segment that other carmakers still find attractive. Case in point, Hyundai with the new Elantra.

From what I've heard, the car is being discontinued because Honda can't price the new Civic competitively in India. That makes me wonder about the company, when everyone else from Volkswagen to Renault can manage to price their cars in the segment right. Honda's strategy apparently is to move the next-generation City up as a premium product to take the place of the Civic.

[sarthakgupta]

Honda is denying this new development. They say it is just a media speculation.

This information was conveyed to us by Hormazd Sorabjee, the Editor of AutocarIndia, through his twitter handle. Honda SIEL, for its part has denied news of the Civic being discontinued to Team ICB, by stating that, “It(the rumor) is mere media specuation. The Civic is doing reasonable numbers and is being produced in August as well.” Sales of the Civic sedan have been stuck in the doldrums for quite a while in India as the car is available only with a 1.8 Liter petrol engine, which while sweet revving and responsive isn’t exactly the most frugal unit in the market.

Souce:Rumor: Current generation Honda Civic sedan discontinued from India with no plans for new model; Honda denies development. | IndianCarsBikes.in

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by sarthakgupta

Honda is denying this new development. They say it is just a media speculation.



Souce:Rumor: Current generation Honda Civic sedan discontinued from India with no plans for new model; Honda denies development. | IndianCarsBikes.in

the devil is in the details - they say it's being made in August as well, sure, but for how long? Most of the car comes from Thailand, which has moved to the 2012 Civic. Dies and parts for this model aren't going to be kept around just for India's small demand.

Honda needs to deny this to move the remaining inventory.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by sarthakgupta

Honda is denying this new development. They say it is just a media speculation.

I don't think Hormazd would publish a purely speculative article. This is probably inside information and from his sources within the company and/or the car industry. ACI does have its reputation at stake and if wrong, could get sued by HSIEL.

StarScream is right..this is just media-speak to get people buy the fully assembled cars they have left in their stock yards and with dealers.

After all who'd want to be stuck with an inventory that may soon be relegated to being sold only as spares for cars already on the road.

The more I think about this, the more Honda Siel's decision disappoints me. Whatever the reason for this decision, in my view it shows a lack of commitment to this market and its customers.

If there's someone to blame for the lacklustre sales of the Civic it is H-S.

Financial issues, senior management changes, and now this. All is not well at Honda Siel. Sad turn of events at what was a shining star for auto enthusiasts in this country.

[altius]

If true, this would be a sad news. Hopefully it would be a temporary move. I wonder if Civic would still be a Civic (in terms of character) with a diesel engine. I always thought the main differentiator for Hondas with respect to their competitors was their high revving VTEC engines!

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by R2D2

I am not quite sure what to make of this decision by Honda Siel - but it gives me a seriously negative vibe. Is it that they believe the Civic is not selling and therefore not worth spending time, money and effort on manufacturing and marketing it..


...+1 If I had a Civic I'd be really uncomfortable. Unusual for a manufacturer to discontinue a well appreciated car model without introducing a successor OR giving any indication if it will be reintroduced after a while.

Interesting thought this.

But I think it's a strategy more than anything else. Think of the positives that will come from this, being speculative of course:

- The City will get more room to grow, with it's own prices touching 13 lakhs in some States. The City will most certainly get a diesel. Maybe there is an all new and bigger/better City and Jazz coming in the next 3 years?

- The new Civic hasn't gained popularity with many and wasn't well received. Also, the current engine option isn't enough for the market. Perhaps they decided to skip this one and introduce the next - one that will have a wider range of engines?

- Current Civic owners don't need to cry to the heavens. Sure, it's disappointing to see that the car you have will no longer be made, for however long the period. Spare parts and regular service will be available for a long time.

Rest assured, the Indian auto-market cannot be ignored. It's a huge business now and everyone wants some of it. Just look at the number of new launches and new brands entering our market in the last 5 years. New segments have been created. Assembly Lines are being built and some cars are even being exported!

A company like Honda will not stay away from the action. As a matter of fact, no car maker will want to! Hyundai has climbed the ladder rather successfully! Look at the number of i10s and i20s. They've launched two premium products in the last 1 year - the Sonata and the Elantra. And the preconceived notion of Korean design and engineering being a blatant copy of Japanese products is a thing of the past.

It may not be completely accurate, but do you remember the used City Vtec prices after the model was discontinued? It soared and some were going for base-price Swifts, even those that had done in excess of 70k on the odo.

The Civic is considered an enthusiast's car in India. Not just an enthusiast who likes driving, but someone who likes cars in general. It's got massive appeal even now! The Civic is considered a really good car by the masses even though the competition in the form of the Cruze had caught up with it and battered its sales.

People who want Civics will want to get it now, because it's a car you will cherish.

[issigonis]

>>>

One point to take note of, and this might be relevant for all car makers in India : the policy flip flops of our central government does not engender any sense of confidence either in the logic of such policies or in their duration. These policies can be construed as ad-hoc and short sighted.

I imagine (and I might be completely off kilter) assuming the story about Honda discontinuing the Civic is true, that the management reasoned that they required a line up of diesel engines ( not only for Civic but also for the rest of their models) to emerge (re-emerge?) as strong players in markets such as India where priority to fuel efficiency (not a bad thing) and subsidies (very bad) combine together to distort buyer choices and hence sales performance.

Honda maybe looking at a 3-5 year time frame to re-establish itself with a broad range of models right from the B1/B2 to the D1/D2 segments, tailored for the Indian market, which has characteristics all its own.

Regards
issigonis