Honda in the firing line-Will it come out unscathed

[rahul_intlad]

Honda sure seems to be in the firing line,question is can it come out successful from this attack on its entire line-up in India almost.

1>. First was the NHC,it is really facing the heat from the sx4.

2>. Honda civic has to do battle with the optra diesel,considering our love for diesel optra has an advantage but still civic may still maintain the upperhand here only question how many prospective customers would move from the honda camp.

3>.The crv would have to do battle with another suv[Maruti suzuki grand vitara].Can't comment much on this until further details of the vitara are out but again could be more of a loss in number of customers for honda again.

4>.The accord,this seems to be the safest for the time being,though Skoda laura has been attracting attention.Don't know of competitors plans here.

I am not saying this is going to be doom time for all their products,just the fact that Honda India may well have to brace up for some competition now and things are not going to be easy.Don't rely too much on that H badge.

[BUSA]

First was the NHC,it is really facing the heat from the sx4.

With lack of good production of the SX4 ZXi, it piped the NHC

Honda civic has to do battle with the optra diesel,considering our love for diesel optra has an advantage but still civic may still maintain the upperhand here only question how many prospective customers would move from the honda camp.

My fav D segment car was the Civic but looking at the specs of the Optra D, i have no affinity left towards the Civic, yes only if Honda got a diesel, but according to them Merc, BMW, GM, MUL, MnM, Tata, Hyundai. Skoda are all fools to sell diesel cars so why bother

The crv would have to do battle with another suv[Maruti suzuki grand vitara].

The CRV is grossly overpriced.

The accord,this seems to be the safest for the time being,though Skoda laura has been attracting attention.Don't know of competitors plans here

Wait for the Petrol Laura to come with the vRS engine and Accord will surely face the heat and the lack of Manual option for the V6 is really sad.

[1100D]

However, Honda dominates not only in Indian market but in markets where some of these already sells, with better cars/loading. So apart from the fact that Honda was largely unchallenged, not much will change.

[zoomingbhat]

Hondas should definitely start thinking.SX4 has crossed the sales of the leading NHC,the month it released itself so you can imagine the extent of damage done.
And with the release of OPTRA MAGNUM i think it will definitely sell in good numbers because it has highly power and high torque diesel engine which is fuel efficient adding to which optra has a decent look and good brand image which is good enough for me

[veyron1]

Originally Posted by rahul_intlad

Don't rely too much on that H badge.

Hah. Honda India were never bullet-proof. They began well, with the OHC. But that ended there. The problem is, they haven't kept up with the competition.

Honda & Toyota need to take the Indian market more seriously. If the giants bring in their full arsenal, they'd be a formidable force against MUL.

[manson]

The nhc is almost at the end of its time, and honda surely would be gettin ready with a replacement for the same, but the sx4 certainly must have made Honda India take action sooner than they thought.

The Optra Diesel from what i have read sees like a great car, and seems like great value too, but i see it eating into the octavia's market than any serious damage to the civic.

Originally Posted by veyron1

Hah. Honda India were never bullet-proof. They began well, with the OHC. But that ended there.

In all the excitement, we seem to have missed out on the nhc and the 2003 spec accord which are even today on of the best selling cars in their segment if not right up there.
Working too hard, are we pal

manson.

[gr8guzzler]

Originally Posted by manson

The nhc is almost at the end of its time, and honda surely would be gettin ready with a replacement for the same

On the Car & Bike show on NDTV, Honda's CEO mentioned that NHC is only due to be replaced after a year, and that they will make some cosmetic changes to keep the numbers going.

[1100D]

Dont read too much into it, the new gen Fit/Aria and the booted sister will be in soon. Only good news could be that Honda (being Honda not Fiat)may not do what it did last time with the NHC (which in anycase actually amounted to far greater numbers than what they were used to seeing till then).

[esteem_lover]

A price cut in the NHC could put a dampener on the SX4 sales.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

A price cut in the NHC could put a dampener on the SX4 sales.

Honda never cut prices, it will probably add more value

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by rahul_intlad

Honda sure seems to be in the firing line,question is can it come out successful from this attack on its entire line-up in India almost.

1>. First was the NHC,it is really facing the heat from the sx4.

Really ? If we look at the sales numbers of Honda, the sales of NHC have remained around 3K a month. If we look at numbers of C segment, it is clear that the whole segment is expanding. So, while SX4 will do well it is not necessarily at the expense of NHC. Its too early to write off NHC.

2>. Honda civic has to do battle with the optra diesel,considering our love for diesel optra has an advantage but still civic may still maintain the upperhand here only question how many prospective customers would move from the honda camp.

I doubt if Optra diesel will have any impact on Civic. I belive Optra diesel will hit Octavia, Verna, Elantra and the likes but can't touch Civic which is a different league all together.

3>.The crv would have to do battle with another suv[Maruti suzuki grand vitara].Can't comment much on this until further details of the vitara are out but again could be more of a loss in number of customers for honda again.

Again, its too early to say. People who have 23L to spend won't buy Maruti because CRV is more of a status symbol. Besides, Vitara is not offering anything special. It is a 5 seater Petrol with all the regular trappings that come in a D segment Car. Its just cheaper. This is very different situation from SX4 vs NHC where SX4 has redefined segment by offering ABS/Airbags etc.

I am not saying this is going to be doom time for all their products,just the fact that Honda India may well have to brace up for some competition now and things are not going to be easy.Don't rely too much on that H badge.

Competition is great and it results in better products for the customer. NHC has been able to get away without offering ABS/Airbags for so long because nobody else was offering it. Now that we have competition Honda will have to spruce up their offerings.

[spadival]

Why just Honda? I think Skoda should be more worried.. Diesel engine monopoly in D segment is about to end now. Well.. Hyundai is there .. But nobody seems to take them seriously beyond C segment.

[GTO]

1. The NHC : Yes, appears to be the only Honda product under pressure. Even though the SX4 offers astounding value in comparison, the NHC will still find a lot of buyers due to the additional refinement, Honda badge or the practical image it has created.

2. The Civic : Nope. I wouldnt consider the Optra D as serious competition. For one, there is a good size of the market for petrol C+ segment cars...and the Civic has them swept. Second, the Civic does almost everything better than the Optra and scores on the all too important looks / brand component.

3. CRV : We have to wait and watch for the Vitara reviews / pricing strategy before coming to a realistic discussion on this.

[srishiva]

I don't think Optra can compete with Civic. Accord will be all new this fall and CRV (until RAV4 can arrive) has no match. For the City, they will have to add extra value. There was no need until now and now they have to.
There is too much fuss about what Honda said regarding diesels. It has like one diesel engine and cannot put it into different cars. With a expanding line up of diesels, they wouldn't be foolish to ignore that. By the way personally I would wait for their new diesels to debut when they do in the U.S.

[sathya_nars]

wrt SX4 delivery issues and NHC will benefit from it - how long can it happen? Worst case within 6-8 months, SX4 supply will be ready to take on demand, then NHC will be hit anyway.

Honda needs to look at competition seriously. Customers are not relying only the brand name anymore (may be, NRIs coming back to India will continue to buy Honda thinking it is same as offered in US and other countries).

With Swift and SX4 (can't say about Vitara until it is released), MUL has definitely gained decent numbers from others.

More diesel cars being released in > C segments is good sign of growth in segment.

Indians never worry going to MUL cars, its not status damage anyway - same goes to other competitor's cars against Honda.