[arup.misra]

Originally Posted by kirantp

Fellow BHPians:

I have recently come across several people talking about Honda releasing Diesel version of ANHC sometime by the end of 2011. Anybody heard similar news from your respective zones???
Regards, KTP

@ kiran - As far as I know, Honda just has one diesel engine a 2.2L which is available in Europe. The City given its dimensions can fit in a 1.4 or a 1.6L engine. Don't think a 2.2 can fit in. Besides the diesel in Europe has low levels of sulphur unlike India. I don't think we are going to see a diesel plant in the City atleast till 2013 or 14 by which time a new City would well be due.

P.S. No showroom manager or sales rep would have / share first hand info on such matters unless you know them personally.

[kirantp]

Originally Posted by arup.misra

@ kiran - As far as I know, Honda just has one diesel engine a 2.2L which is available in Europe. The City given its dimensions can fit in a 1.4 or a 1.6L engine. Don't think a 2.2 can fit in. Besides the diesel in Europe has low levels of sulphur unlike India. I don't think we are going to see a diesel plant in the City atleast till 2013 or 14 by which time a new City would well be due.

P.S. No showroom manager or sales rep would have / share first hand info on such matters unless you know them personally.

Thanks for the information Arup. Though I do not know the Showroom manager personally, we have a good rappo between us that made me check with him on this news . You do have a valid point there and the best that we can do for now is to wait and watch.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by caprico4

i suppose even if honda do manage to plonk the diesel mill in the city in a hurry, it will not be a game changer at all, the only people who will buy it will be Honda loyalists (like my family).

the current Honda CIty petrol costs upwards of 11 lac, so the diesel will well cross the 13 lac mark and enter well into the higher D segment with some high value for money, better snob value and excellently equipped cars like the Altis, Lura, Jetta, Verna, Cruz etc.

people will think long and hard before buying a C segment car at a D segment price.

Not quite true. Look at it this way. The 'E' variant is approx 7.5 ex showroom right now. Add another 80K to it and the diesel base model would be 8.3L or so. Now compare this price with the base model Fiesta, Vento, SX4 and Verna in the diesel segment, and you can clearly see that City doesn't command the kind of premium it used to.

Only issues being, no one really knows when the diesel will arrive. By the time it does, the scenario might have completely changed considering the constant flux Indian automobile industry is in currently.

[vb-saan]

Here is some information on the Honda diesel. According to this piece of information in Autocar UK, the updated 2.2 diesel is going to have a UK debut in the new euro Civic. Will India also get this next year?

Honda's new 2.2 diesel: 110g/km - Autocar.co.uk

Moderators: Please move if there is a more relevant thread. Thanks!

[libranof1987]

Check this out :

Honda plans to launch diesel cars in India - The Economic Times

It is more of a FYI statement from the company rather than a significant announcement.

The company official has mentioned that the development of diesel engine is India-specific but declined to mention a time-line.

Honda is waking up - but the way it is (read : City and Jazz price cuts), is not going down well with existing customers; more of a bittersweet feeling.

[JD1]

If they need to reinvent the wheel, why spend resources behind diesel engine? Instead channel the resources in developing and mass producing alternate energy vehicles. Yes these vehicles may not give as much driving "pleasure" as diesel engines but at least it would be a small step towards reducing our reliance on oil.

[Parm]

CHENNAI: Japanese auto major Honda plans to launch diesel cars in India because of increase in demand for such vehicles against the backdrop of high petrol prices, a top company official said on Monday.

The company is engaged in developing diesel engines back in Japan, Honda Siel Cars India senior vice-president (Sales and Marketing), Jnaneswar Sen, said.

"The Research and Development team in Japan is developing diesel engines. It is premature to say that the products will be rolled out on diesel (platform)," he told reporters here.

Declining to reveal when diesel variants would be rolled out in India, he said the proposed diesel engine was being developed for a specific market like India as most of the markets worldwide prefer petrol cars.

On the "Brio" that was formally launched recently, he said "Honda is targeting first time buyers and those who already own a Honda vehicle".

Honda plans to launch diesel cars in India - 1 - *



Note from Team-BHP Support:
Please use the search feature before creating a new thread on a topic that might already exist.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Honda is waking up - but the way it is (read : City and Jazz price cuts), is not going down well with existing customers; more of a bittersweet feeling.

Originally Posted by Parm

On the "Brio" that was formally launched recently, he said "Honda is targeting first time buyers and those who already own a Honda vehicle".

If Mr. Sen did want to target existing owners, he should have know the price cuts wont go down well with existing Indian customers.

As for the diesel mill, by the time they come up with it, there will enough hoopla around the petrol - diesel price differential to ensure that there will be a surcharge on diesel vehicles one way or the other

[puchoo]

Absolutely , there is no predicting what the difference between petrol and diesel would be , where electric cars as a viable mass option would be - my bet is that they will launch it with the next gen version of the city , they cannot throw in a diesel plant in the current city and expect it to resolve all the problems , it will end up providing a diesel option to Indian consumers but they need to tackle the feature listing as well.

The next gen thus in my opinion would be the best bet for both concerns - take care of the trimmings as well as the engine options.

Originally Posted by avisidhu

Only issues being, no one really knows when the diesel will arrive. By the time it does, the scenario might have completely changed considering the constant flux Indian automobile industry is in currently.

[shortbread]

Even if diesel prices are matched with petrol one way or the other, Diesel engines are inherently more fuel efficient. Diesels are outselling Petrols in Europe despite being the marginally more expensive fuel. Either ways Honda needs more diesels in its line up, not only for India but to counter its flagging European sales as well.

The issue is if they decide to make their diesels in Japan (where they make their 2.2 diesel despite no local sales) and then decide to ship it to markets like India, thus increasing the costs of a diesel option. This is a doomed strategy, Honda needs to make these engines in India both to take advantage of lower manufacturing costs and the local demand.

[sunnyworld]

More news on Honda's diesel engine (from Honda's facebook page)
More news about Honda's Diesel Engine

This one might be for India

A compact diesel engine which realizes the world's lightest body*1, top-of-class*1 acceleration performance and fuel efficiency.

[srishiva]

At the Tokyo motor show, they showed the 1.6 lt diesel and the direct injection gasoline engines. Gas engines especially should now become mileage champs.

[bkbkr1212]

2 years is too long a time for an industry as dynamic as this.
Honda will have to come out with something really magical to beat the current diesel guys. And we can be sure that none of them are going to sit pretty on their laurels.
The moot point is how will Honda survive for the next 2 years or so considering they are not leaders in any of the segments.

[CARDEEP]

The Civic engine bay may get the honours for housing the the 1.6 L Direct Injection Diesel. Her is the report:

http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2011...ic-first-27897

I bet this can be put to testing & use for the City with immediate effect once this is commercially produced. There is fair chance of NCR TBHP-ians spotting the test mules of Civic & City with diesel heart.

But, this was really fast & efficient action from Honda (kudos to their R&D)... I swallow my words posted earlier in this thread.

[pk_del]

The 1.6 i-DTEC engine is already doing some tests. Here is a link to Autoexpress test:

Honda Civic 1.6 i-DTEC | First Drives | Auto Express

Hope fully we will see this soon in the City....

-PK