[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Birdie tweeting.

- Honda's Takapura factory will be operational from January 2013 onwards. Production of diesels to commence shortly after that. Expect to see Amaze mules being tested on Indian roads in Feb/Mar 2013.

- Amaze launch might be pushed to June 2013. Simultaneous launch still being mulled, but don't count out diesel launch first. Honda aiming for 90% localisation to make pricing competitive.

- Brio diesel launch might be pushed ahead to the first quarter of 2014. Will be second Honda diesel offering for India.

- City diesel launch might be pushed to third quarter of 2014, will be next-gen.

- The 1.5 i-DTEC* powering the Amaze is heavily localised and India-specific.

- Jazz will continue to be sold alongside Amaze D. No news regarding it's future yet.

- New CR-V to be launched by Feb-Mar 2013. Will be the last Honda launch this financial year before they wholly concentrate on the Amaze.

- Jazz-based MPV's plans still under wraps. Don't expect it anytime before 2015 though.

- Honda R&D team mulling a Brio-platform based MPV as well. Concepts have started, detailing to start from next year.


* - nomenclature still not finalised


More as I receive them.

Economic Times have confirmed (in a report on Honda's diesel & new plant) that the City will get diesel only in the new avtar. Makes sense IMO, as the current gen City is at the end of it's life cycle, & there is no point incurring cost on plonking, upgrading the components & testing it with the diesel mill.

However, bad for the model as well (as it would have to fight for numbers against diesel equipped competitors) & customers (as they won't have another formidable option till 2014 end/ last quarter).

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Sheel

X1 & Q3 appear as large hatches & I believe the service would be expensive wrt to a Honda. Correct me if I am wrong though.

When we talk about Honda service, its normally about the cars which cost less than 15 lakhs – Civic, City, Jazz etc. No question on the reliability, but the CR-V can generate heavy bills if it hit the service centre

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Ideally they should concentrate on getting the CR-V as a CKD from current CBU status. This will help them position diesel better. Also as far as I understand, CRV has a 2.2L diesel variant sold in europe alone. They might have problems with Indian low quality fuel. We might have to wait till they derive a 2.0L Earth Dreaams diesel for India.

Question is, whether the segment calls for so much of R&D and investment at this point. The premium cross-over segment is still a niche segment with only a few hundreds of units finding home every month. And even as a CKD, the CR-V diesel can still cost around 25 lakhs ex-showroom, which is still quite high IMHO.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by vb-san

When we talk about Honda service, its normally about the cars which cost less than 15 lakhs – Civic, City, Jazz etc. No question on the reliability, but the CR-V can generate heavy bills if it hit the service centre

But it still maybe less than what an Audi or BMW shall generate, no?

The fact that it maybe more reliable is an added bonus.

Question is, whether the segment calls for so much of R&D and investment at this point. The premium cross-over segment is still a niche segment with only a few hundreds of units finding home every month. And even as a CKD, the CR-V diesel can still cost around 25 lakhs ex-showroom, which is still quite high IMHO.

I honetly think it will make the life difficult for Santa Fe, Captiva, Koleos & take at least 15-20% share from Fortuner (not everyone buys the 4X4) & of-course other players as well.

Pricing? 25L in Bangalore OTR for the top end shall do. With a promise of not increasing the price for sometime.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Birdie tweeting.

- Jazz-based MPV's plans still under wraps. Don't expect it anytime before 2015 though.

- Honda R&D team mulling a Brio-platform based MPV as well. Concepts have started, detailing to start from next year.

Does this Jazz based SUV fall under their plan for India? Looks yummy






This particular concept tracked in detail here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...oit-debut.html

[RavenAvi]

Note to all scoop-sters - see if you can spot test mules of the Amaze and the next-gen Civic in your area. Road tests have begun.

Amaze arrives in May/June, while the all-new Civic might be coming by early next year.

In related news, Honda India has reported a whopping loss of 604 crores for the FY 2012, which is almost 3 times the loss it endured for FY 2011.

Honda clearly had the biggest setback, with losses ballooning from Rs 212 crore in fiscal 2011 to Rs 604 crore last year. Natural calamities in Japan and Thailand led to the non-availability of critical parts, which have taken a toll of the financial performance with sales turnover falling by roughly 20% to Rs 3,185 crore.

Sales volumes dropped by 8.5% to 54,526 units, as the gap between diesel and petrol prices widened - Honda has a nil presence in diesel in India, with the soon-to-be-launched Amaze sedan set to be its first model in this segment.

"With the price gap between diesel and petrol widening in May 2012, sales of petrol cars got impacted, resulting in a build-up of stocks. The situation has been further compounded with the rupee continuing to weaken against all the major currencies, putting pressure on the cost structure and margins," Honda Cars said in its latest annual report.

SOURCE - http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/18053191.cms

[sgiitk]

Honda CC seems to have gone to dogs. I wrote about spares for my Brio (in the header itself), and it was forwarded to the dealer stating that I had cribbed about my Civic.

The SM called me up, and we sorted out the matter. She expects the spares in by the weekend. They had goofed in ordering the part for the LHS while I needed it for the rhs. All this is for the Brio and not Civic.

Maybe Honda does not expect a customer to own two of their products, and have some silly database holding information linking the customer e-mail with his car (no provision for cars).

[aim120]

If Honda India motorcycles can sell spares over the counter,why not the same for Honda cars india.Even in thailand end users can buy Honda spares .

[IamSaran]

I had just gone for a test drive of Honda BRIO for one of my relatives. I had visited the showroom and test drove the car and I found it to be an awesome little gem!

But the surprising fact was the information that I got about the JAZZ. When I inquired about the availability, the showroom guy told me that most of the showrooms do not even take the orders for Jazz since there is a backlog running for several months. I asked him why is that, and he replied "since no one is interested in the car, there is no production!". I was really surprised and saddened at this comment. I think Honda Jazz is one of the best hatchback in the country today but due to some nut heads on the pricing department, they just lost the plot. In India, we associate everything with a price and if there is a way to lower it, then do it!

[RavenAvi]

A bit of news, both happy and sad.

- Brio diesel facing more delays. Apparently NVH-level testing is not up to Honda's quality standards, nor satisfaction. Some more delay in it's launch is inevitable.

- Brio-based MUV being fast-tracked (a strict 6-seater, I am told). Honda is really aggressive in it's development, and wants to introduce it in the Malaysian market by mid-2014. If it comes to India, expect it no earlier than 2015. Might be powered by the same Brio Amaze engine options - petrol and diesel. Pricing might be in the Ertiga/Quanto territory.

- Amaze definitely coming by May. Diesel launch first. Petrol launch after 2-3 months of the diesel launch.

- Jazz might be replaced by the Jazz-based MPV, Freed, by next year. This is being mulled right now. No concrete info on that yet.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

A bit of news, both happy and sad.

- Brio diesel facing more delays. Apparently NVH-level testing is not up to Honda's quality standards, nor satisfaction. Some more delay in it's launch is inevitable...

So can we take it that Brio D will NOT be the same engine as Amaze's? Otherwise I do NOT find a reason why Amaze is close to production and Brio D still has delays! Is it a 3 pot 1.2L derived from the 1.6L earthdreams?!

On the other hand, if it indeed makes into production, I guess we can expect some stunning prices, just like Brio petrol. Why would Honda want a 3 pot otherwise to compete with 4 cylinders (mostly) in the segment.

[dipen]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

On the other hand, if it indeed makes into production, I guess we can expect some stunning prices, just like Brio petrol. Why would Honda want a 3 pot otherwise to compete with 4 cylinders (mostly) in the segment.

Brio needs more features at same price. Right now the i10 is beating it very nicely in sales which is its biggest direct competitor. Though i10 sales are taking a beating in general, it is still very much beating the Brio.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

- Brio diesel facing more delays. Apparently NVH-level testing is not up to Honda's quality standards, nor satisfaction. Some more delay in it's launch is inevitable.

Apparently Honda are not releasing the Diesel Hatch for the time being. I will be very surprised if they have two Diesels without letting the first one stabilize.

[swiftnfurious]

Went for a Brio TD today. Asked about Amaze and the guys said Honda has asked them to take bookings for Amaze Petrol (ONLY) for 1L deposit. These guys at Kottayam (Vision Honda) are getting 9 Amaze petrols next month out of which 1 will be a TD car. They said diesel launch will be after a month, in April. The company has NOT disclosed the prices yet, but the dealers are expecting a 40-50K premium over Dzire.

[tez]

Even with 40K premium over dzire, Amaze D would do well due to brand image that Honda carries.
Lets see if amaze d is able to give the same FTD factor that swift and dzire have.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

So can we take it that Brio D will NOT be the same engine as Amaze's? Otherwise I do NOT find a reason why Amaze is close to production and Brio D still has delays! Is it a 3 pot 1.2L derived from the 1.6L earthdreams?!

On the other hand, if it indeed makes into production, I guess we can expect some stunning prices, just like Brio petrol. Why would Honda want a 3 pot otherwise to compete with 4 cylinders (mostly) in the segment.

Rumors are that the Brio D test mules were equipped with a 3-potter, which is why I had wondered at that time if Honda had sourced it from another company. It's certainly not derived from the Earth Dreams tech, since Honda had designated it as incompatible with our Indian diesel.

It might be that Honda was going the Chevy Beat route (4-cyl petrol, 3-cyl diesel) in order to cut down on costs and price the Brio D attractively. Now, if they go the Amaze engine route, costs might not be that effectively cut down. Even a 1.2-1.3 lakh increase over the corresponding petrol variant might make the Brio D with the Amaze engine quite steeply priced.

I guess we will have a clearer indication of Honda's strategy of pricing the Brio D once Amaze is launched and we get to see the Amaze D's prices.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Apparently Honda are not releasing the Diesel Hatch for the time being. I will be very surprised if they have two Diesels without letting the first one stabilize.

A detuned Amaze engine cannot be completely ruled out, but that would make the Brio D a premium diesel hatch (which I am sure Honda wouldn't want, since they had said not too long ago that "we are taking Honda to the masses"). I am guessing a smaller, 1.3L might be on the cards. We will know by next year.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Went for a Brio TD today. Asked about Amaze and the guys said Honda has asked them to take bookings for Amaze Petrol (ONLY) for 1L deposit. These guys at Kottayam (Vision Honda) are getting 9 Amaze petrols next month out of which 1 will be a TD car. They said diesel launch will be after a month, in April. The company has NOT disclosed the prices yet, but the dealers are expecting a 40-50K premium over Dzire.

This made me immediately call up my birdie, and they reported this -

The launch has been rescheduled (forwarded) to April 2012, and it will be a simultaneous diesel/petrol launch.

The Amaze will be arriving before mid-March at all Honda dealerships for RTO verification, and the first cars will be unloaded by the end of March at dealerships.

Advance bookings are NOT open right now. They will commence after the 2nd week of March. If/when bookings start, it will be for a nominal amount (expect 21K onwards, not more than 50K).

Exact date of launch hasn't been confirmed yet, but expect a date between 5th - 12th April. Deliveries to commence immediately.