Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   The Indian Car Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/)

-   -   Honda India : The Way Forward (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/101803-honda-india-way-forward-43.html)

Even if they are planning to get the HRV, if it's not a 'connected car' like the competition, it'll be seen as a lesser product.

Am not fully in agreement. The so called connected features only seem to help justify the high sticker price but aren't truly essential (Seltos, Hector do have other essentials even if we ignore connected car....). If Honda gets the HRV at a sensible price minus the not so essential features of the connected cars, am sure it will find takers. But then Honda was never known to price their cars to compete with the others...

The lure of the so called connected cars is going to be high. Even though the novelty factor fades after a while, it does get brownie points. It's like the megapixel race on smartphones, everyone wants the best camera even though they might barely use it.

In such a scenario, launching a car without matching the competition will be hara Kiri. Maybe that's why Honda might just push back on the launch of the HRV and launch the updated one next year.

The problem is, they already have the BRV at what could be a 'sensible' price range for the HRV. So unless they take the BRV off (it isn't doing well anyway), they will surely price the HRV at a premium, even without the connected features.

We need a 5 seater BRV not the current seven seater and it needs to compete with Brezza, Ecosport, XUV 300 & Venue. This is the volume segment. I will be very happy to see a chopped version of BRV mini with the same engine specs.

They already have a 5-seater 'RV' competing against the cars you mentioned - its called the WRV :).

I agree about the engine spec part completely. The 1.5L i-VTEC in the WRV would have been sweet. But the WRV is already overpriced, and bringing in the 1.5L engine would shoot the price even higher, which is why Honda is being conservative. The other reason is that they believe it might cannibalize the City - this, in my opinion, should have been the least of their concerns as long as consumers cross-shop among their own offerings. And the C2 segment sedans aren't bringing in the same numbers now anyway.

WRV is a cross hatchback and do not hold a candle for the Brezza, Ecosport and other Sub 4-M Suv's. It's a competitor to i20 Active, Ford Freestyle, Liva Cross, Fiat Avventura.

Fair point and actually logically quite correct. The only doubt I'd have is, If I'm not mistaken, the BR-V is based on the Mobilio -> Amaze Gen1 -> Brio platform.
Its underpinnings can't be easily modified to raise it up and give it the compact SUV stance. Current BR-V also has a pure MPV stance no matter how much Honda tries (tried rather) to call it an SUV.

The engineering required to change that platform will be immense and costly again. That on a platform that is now old (started with Brio). Might not be a winning formula for Honda either.

They have made a mistake by not foreseeing the rise of the C-SUVs like you rightly pointed out. But the solution for that needs to be patient & whole-hearted. Not some half baked product again like the WR-V. (Which mind you sells quite consistently anyway thanks to its sun roof!!)

Had an extensive chat with a big Honda dealer recently. He told me that they have informed Honda many times about the lacking products and gaps in the product line and vis a vis the pricing but the management at Honda India doesn't seem to listen.

HRV is on hold again, new jazz won't be coming, there is just a mess in Honda India.

He also told me that Honda will not be a market leader and bring new technology and new products and be a first mover. They will continue to beat their petrol and Diesel engines and they are happy to be a 3-4-5 tier car maker in India just catering to demand and not being any innovator or segment leader. Was very sad to hear all this.

Honda HRV launch postponement is more or less confirmed. They were slated to launch and slot it just before the Civic with an asking price of 18-19 lakhs. It just wouldn't have made the cut in the current scheme of things as compared to offerings like the hector and seltos.

It's sad to see Honda go down as a has been. There's just no innovation that can be seen anymore. A follower than a market leader.

Competition has upped its game and HRV feels pretty much outdated vis-a-vis the competition. They have to come up with something radical for HRV. Their psuedo premium pricing will kill if it does not have the latest gizmo. They have to price at a slight premium to the City. Anything more, the dealers can probably have it for their personal use as HRV will go the CRV way as I am sure Honda will give it only launch it with City engine spec

I remember reading an article in a news magazine titled 'Hyundai: The Honda of Tomorrow'

My, that author was right! Best way to envision that is see the reducing appeal of the CRV with every iteration (market leader to market ho-hum in less than 15 years), and vice versa on all the Hyundai cars, including a few disruptive ones.

Honda has lost it's way and Hyundai truly is on its way!

Case in point - 4 lacs discount on the CRV diesel right now, and even then the car doesn't appeal!

I didn't quite get this. Honda's problems are mainly rising out of their total ignorance of market trends and lethargy in bringing products that have significance in our market.

They are now charging a premium purely for brand and have lost all their previous USPs of innovation, premium quality, reliability.

Hyundai on the other hand is leaps and bounds ahead of Honda in quality, fit & finish. It has very polished products with finesse.

Most importantly - Hyundai right now is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to bringing cars that are exactly fitting the requirements of the Indian buyer. Be it the size, power, feature list, safety kit. Their cars are the best combination of these in each segment pretty much. And thats showing in the market share it achieves.

Their launches are also timely & actually "new" rather than just facelifts. When nobody is launching any new cars, Hyundai is coming with Venue, Kona, Santro, i10 NIOS, Creta refresh + next gen next year, Verna refresh, i20 refresh...

I don't see it becoming Honda at least for next 5 years.

The article I read was more than 10 years back when Hyundai was still considered a relatively lower quality Korean entrant but started making some good noises with cars like the Sonata and Honda was riding high on the back of City, Civic and the CRV...

All the things you wrote are proving exactly what I said.

I think he means that eventually Hyundai will also slow down and become the bore that Honda has become.. but that is maybe 5 years away.