The Honda Civic is finally here!

[GTO]

Alright Fellow Honda fans, buckle up coz the Honda Civic is finally set to come to Indian shores. First reported by Autocarindia, and now by the Economic Times. Sales of the Upper C segment (Corolla/Octavia/Optra) have caught the fancy of Honda India, and though the move is a little too late keeping in mind the market gap created by the lowered positioning of the New City...its going to be well worth the wait.

Is the Honda Civic slated for an end-2004 or early-2005 launch in India ? Market rumours have it that spurred by its current success with the City, the Japanese car maker may hasten the launch of Civic, its popular top-end mid-size sedan. Company officials, however, deny making any such move. Officials say that right now, Honda is busy debating on its capacity expansion issue in view of the tremendous growth in the market. The company has indicated in the past that it wants to eventually make 1,00,000 cars a year, and be the premium segment leader.

The Civic is a popular car in most international markets. In the Indian context, it would fit into the D segment and compete with the likes of Toyota Corolla, Skoda Octavia and Hyundai Elantra (once it is launched soon). The D segment has clocked some racy numbers last fiscal (ended March 31, 2004 ), with sales growth in excess of 150%.

Trade sources say Honda?s C segment offering, City has done very well, especially after the new car was rolled out last year. For FY 2003-04, the City has sold more than 18,000 units, while Accord (again a new model) which is a leading player in the luxury E segment has sold over 2,000 units. The SUV from the Honda fold, CRV, has done 1,200 units. So, while consolidation of its current advantage will be a priority, trade sources say Honda may also consider plugging the gap between C and E segment cars with the Civic.

Honda?s present production capacity is 30,000 cars a year. It expects to lap up almost the entire capacity with two shifts a day this fiscal (2004-05). Honda officials say it is targeting sales of 26,000-27,000 units of the City and between 2,800-3,000 units of the Accord.

The CRV is imported as a CBU (completely built unit). Depending on its assessment of future market demand, and the products it plans to unveil in the Indian market, it has to decide within the next two-three months the extent of capacity it proposes to do, officials said. Honda?s plant in Greater Noida (UP) is located on a 150-acre area, of which it is using only a third at present. Therefore, there is no space issue for future expansion.

Article sourced from The Economic Times

[Dippy]

Thats great news. The Civic is what we've all been waiting for. One of Hondas best selling saloons apart from the Accord. Hope fully it should be also priced in Corolla territory and would make a great buy. It remainas to be seen if we get more than one engine option.

Cheers

[v12]

ACI said theres an option between a 1.7L 134 bhp and a 2L 154 bhp engine.

[ported_head]

i guess everybody has been waiting for the civic for quite some time now. i hope it doesn't disappoint the way the new city did, for enthusiasts atleast. i guess we would love to see them launch the civic type-r, but if the new city vtec is anything to go by... we shouldn't really be waiting.

[navin]

V12, what i have noticed is that the mags usually expect larger engines than what actually is eventullay sold. i would expect the civic to be powered by a lower powered 1.6L for the indian market.

[v12]

dont tell me theyre gettin the City 1.5 Vtec 115 bhp engine. Without detuning though. That way they'll be able to price it also very low.

[GTO]

I doubt the 150hp Civic will make it to India, coz powerwise it will enter Accord territory then. This segment has an average of 120horses, and my bet is on this figure for the Indian Civic.

GTO

[v12]

right gto. its gonna be a 120 bhp civic. But what engine?? the 1.5 VTEC produces 115 bhp.

[Rtech]

While its great that we are finally gonna get our hands on the Civic...its just sad that we missed out on the Civic's glory days. The current civic is widely considered as too mainstream, both in its styling as well as the performance. But, in the Indian scenario, i guess it would be a lot better than whats out there...

....just wish the type R hatch was coming though....**sigh**

P.s. saw a neat late 90's CRX in Pune this weekend...anyone know if there's one for sale...? buzz me

[navin]

the city sell for between 7-8L, the accord bet 14-16L, so there is a gap right at 10-12L. at that price they could either tune the 1.5Vtec to produce 125hp (to compete with the corolla) or bring in a new engine that does the same (my bet). my guess is that the accord has been upgraded with the V6 to make room for the civic. the civic engine might even be 135-140hp in that case.

[Dippy]

If V12 says theres a 1.7 option I guess that might be the one to do duty in the Civic. Hope fully power should be in the region of 125 horses

Cheers

[v12]

In Thailand the Civic is offered with a 1.7 [SOHC 120PS], 1.7 [VTEC 130PS] and a 2.0 [ i-VTEC 155PS] engines. The 2.0 is out of the question. Now it cud be possible that Honda would get the SOHC unit here for reasons of fuel efficiency and costs. Thats what they did with the new City. And the SOHC is quite powerful. So my bet is on the 1.7 SOHC.

[Revvmaster]

Well GTO, its great to have the Civic here and i won't doubt its ability to sell.....

....butttttttt if Honda doesnt expand its production capacity soon it cud end up losing customers to rivals. 2 months for city, 7 months for V6 accord... it seems we are going back to licence raj era

Honda... are u listening??

Revv

[Rtech]

I think they'll bring em both i.e. the 120 and 130 Hp. Just like they had the 1.3 & 1.5 City earlier. For ppl who what the size and looks of the civic without actually driving it, the 120 will do just fine. For the drivers amoungst us, it'll be the 130 which will come with the boby kit and the usual spoiler to differentiate.

Of ocurse, if you wait a while you will get the frills on the 120 as well...ala Palio 1.2 "sport"

[GTO]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]...butttttttt if Honda doesnt expand its production capacity soon it cud end up losing customers to rivals. 2 months for city, 7 months for V6 accord... it seems we are going back to licence raj era

Correct, I just read an article in the Economic Times that expressed concern over why Honda is not expanding manufacturing capacity in India. Tata and Hyundai have been two of the many manufacturers who are agressively seeking to improve on their output quantity.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ] my guess is that the accord has been upgraded with the V6 to make room for the civic.

Nope, The Accord 4 cylinder will always stay the mainstream model, while the V6 is an effort at that much more premium positioning.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]In Thailand the Civic is offered with a 1.7 [SOHC 120PS], 1.7 [VTEC 130PS] and a 2.0 [ i-VTEC 155PS] engines.

I would place my money on the 1.7 Vtec option, though slightly detuned to adjust for the local fuel conditions.

GTO