[AZT]

This is probably a make or break moment for Honda India. They've been making consistent losses and even one or two new cars wont turn this around. I'm not sure what local conditions they are expecting to change (sub 4m tax rules changing??) in terms of actually making a profit.

[volkman10]

Preview to Honda's SUV:




Link

[volkman10]

Honda unveiled the SUV RS Concept( Indonesia) , likely to slot in the sought after Mid SUV segment in India.





Link

[Geta]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Honda unveiled the SUV RS Concept( Indonesia) , likely to slot in the sought after Mid SUV segment in India.

Link

I hope Honda brings this to India soon.

(I had posted the following content in another thread a few weeks back, but I feel this is more appropriate here ("The way forward"). Mods pls delete if inappropriate. Thanks)

1) Honda lost the plot because they were penny wise and pound foolish. They can not beat a Maruti by cutting costs. They should have realised this long back.

2) Amaze was a hit when launched, particularly the diesel engine, though unrefined, with its 100 PS power, was best in class and segment leading fuel efficiency and sold like hot cakes. The real culprit which pulled down Honda was Mobilio. The Mobilio design language with that kink in its shoulder line was an anathema for the purists who loved Honda and was antithesis to everything Honda was perceived to stand for till then.

3) The latest Honda City has lost the 'aggressive' design language and looks 'mature' now. Sadly, 'mature' designs appeal only to people over 40 and the ladies. The current Honda City doesn't reflect the nature of an aggressive male in his 30s, who form the big chunk of its target customers.

4) Honda management was short-sighted in pulling down their halo models, trying to make a profit out of every model. The halo models need not generate a profit. They help in selling the next lower model.

Park a Civic next to a shining Accord, and the Civic will look VFM and sell well.
Park a City next to a shining Civic, and the City will look VFM and sell well.
Park an Amaze next to a shining City and the Amaze will sell well.
Park a HRV next to a CRV, and the HRV will sell well.

Isn't this a basic fact? By pulling the plug on CRV and Civic, Honda has literally zero footfalls from High networth individuals who are great market influencers. The trust of th high networth individuals build a premium brand. Honda has lost it completely by stopping CRV and Civic.

Also, CRV and Civic will lead to higher A$S and Accesseries revenue compared to a budget friendly Amaze or City. Honda has sqandered that opportunity too.

5) VAG has ditched the diesel, so no way a petrol-friendly Honda can claw its way back by investing in diesel technology. Honda can still fight its way back into the game by focussing on plug in hybrids. A City or Civic with a battery pack with 50-70 km range plus a 25-30 liter petrol tank which can provide a combined range of 350 odd kilometres on the highways will work wonders. This will mean that very minimal cost of running in the city with the battery and no range anxiety on the highways due to the IC engine.

6) The sales personnel have lost their focus. When I checked in their showroom a few years back to check out the City and the Jazz, the sales advisor tried to sell me an Amaze! Who says you need enemies from outside when you have such sales people!

In a nutshell, Honda should
Bring back the Civic and CRV, may be the Accord too, and aim for more HNI footfalls in its showrooms. Every Accord or CRV running on the roads will boost its brand image which 10 Cities or a 100 Amazes can not.
Launch the HRV.
Upgrade the entire line up above the Amaze with a plug in hybrid tech.
Launch a battery powered Brio.
Stay put for 5 years and it will pay dividends.

Cheers!

[Turbokick]

Honda should localise the 1.0 Turbo engine for Indian market. That particular engine can make way into everything from Amaze to City. and ofcourse the crossovers incase they are coming.

1.2 ivtec doesnt really work anymore.
1.5 ivtec too isnt winning you any performance battles either !

1.0 100 ps version for sub 4m cars
1.0 120 ps version for City and other 4+m cars.


And the beautiful CVT mated will work like a charm for Indian needs.

[saisree]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Honda unveiled the SUV RS Concept( Indonesia) , likely to slot in the sought after Mid SUV segment in India.

The first thing when it comes to Indian shore is to remove those roof rails.

[saisree]

Honda India sold a total of 5457 cars (City - 2666, Amaze - 2344, Jazz - 327, WRV - 120) in the November month. With such a low sales volume are they paying the Electricity Bills?

The new MD Yuichi Murata has lot to do.

[volkman10]

Honda Cars scales down operations with another VRS round.

Is HCIL contemplating something drastic on the lines of Ford or General Motors ?

The Japanese automaker recently carried out its third VRS (voluntary retirement scheme) exercise in September 2021, which saw nearly 100 executives above the assistant manager level opting for it. According to top sources, the VRS largely focused on senior management personnel across key operations such as purchasing, quality development, manufacturing and marketing

nearly 1,500 employees, including over 950 manufacturing associates, exited the company with hefty compensations. It is estimated that close to 500 employees have left the company over the last year since the closure of operations at Greater Noida was announced.

The industry grapevine is abuzz that more and more employees are looking for new opportunities with brands like Ola Electric, Citroen India and MG Motor India believed to be among the top recruiters.

The automaker maintains that there is a definite product pipeline for the future including a new SUV which will hit the market by 2023.


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[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The automaker maintains that there is a definite product pipeline for the future including a new SUV which will hit the market by 2023.

Similar assurances were given by the likes of GM/Ford before they let themselves out of the country. It will be sad to see Honda to follow suit. I do not believe they will stay unless and until they actually launch their much awaited CUV/SUV in India. Till that happens one can safely assume Honda is in the process of packing its bags in India.

[quantobigboot]

Originally Posted by volkman10

The automaker maintains that there is a definite product pipeline for the future including a new SUV which will hit the market by 2023.

Don't worry guys! Honda will finally launch a SUV in 2023, definitely not 5 years late to the party; And it will even come with the super powerful 1.5L NA engine producing 105 PS! Don't forget the state-of-the-art 7" infotainment system.

[rutvij]

Originally Posted by quantobigboot

Don't worry guys! Honda will finally launch a SUV in 2023, definitely not 5 years late to the party; And it will even come with the super powerful 1.5L NA engine producing 105 PS! Don't forget the state-of-the-art 7" infotainment system.

Sarcasm aside, it is really frustrating to see Honda going down. They have some excellent products in their portfolio. They are selling it in East Asian Markets. That is their big advantage compared to VW/Skoda group. I fail to understand why they are not able to bring them here in time.

[abhaumik]

I so want them to launch the HRV here in India. But that just seems to move further away every year. I own a 2013 City and 'am loving it every bit, and would have loved an upgrade from the same stable.

Are there any plans of any new model launches in India in 2022?

[Dead_Pedal]

Originally Posted by abhaumik

Are there any plans of any new model launches in India in 2022?

City Hybrid I believe is scheduled for a 2022 launch. Hope they bring in new features like the e-park brake with auto hold (available in the Thai and Malaysian models) and some more to differentiate it from the chrome and beige laden current model.

[abhaumik]

Originally Posted by Dead_Pedal

City Hybrid I believe is scheduled for a 2022 launch. Hope they bring in new features like the e-park brake with auto hold (available in the Thai and Malaysian models) and some more to differentiate it from the chrome and beige laden current model.

The same model will be my very last option. The more I see of Honda, the more it seems to go towards Ford. There just seems to be no focus at all towards the Indian market. They launch so many upgrades in other countries of APAC region, but nothing in India.

[Tony2298]

I grew up being a Honda fanboy all my years and my high school days crush was the 8th gen Honda Civiv 1.8 VTEC especially in black or dark purple shade, it was my dream car back then but in today's day and age Honda just lost interest among us Indians and didn't keep up with the market's changing dynamics even though they could have cashed in the opportunity very early whereas new entrants have taken the whole game forward, upon seeing all these I've tried to establish a case study by myself which I want to share in this esteemed forum

Honda, from a common man to an enthusiast everybody at some point of time to another had a dream of owning a car with a capital H logo on its nose

In India especially even before liberalisation the wealthy people privately imported Hondas, such was the appeal. So when Honda actually entered India with a JV with Siel to form Honda Siel Cars India Ltd. and established a plant at Greater Noida everybody was very excited about the same.
Their first product when they started their Indian inning was the City, a sporty sedan for an affluent man. The sleek and sporty profile of the first generation fired up the Indian imagination and demand for a reliable Honda hardware. Fast forward to 2nd and 3rd generations of the City saw it go into a more practical role but one thing was sure the appeal and value of the Honda badge only increased.

Their second product for India was the 8th gen Civic which sat above City and was for those who desired an even more sorted product than City. Even though priced very high it was an instant success as many preferred it due to its gorgeous looks, reliable hardware and fun to drive characteristics thus making Honda as a maker of Fun to Drive easy to maintain car maker

Their next products were the Accord luxury sedan and the CRV luxury SUV, both of them were priced eye-wateringly high and came only with petrol engines also their automatic transmission were gas guzzlers which ensured the fact that they were out of reach of common people and lesser mortals, but it was such a success back in the day. Wealthy individuals, Bollywood stars everybody preferred them over anything, even above Mercedes!
The competition for Honda cars did come, some notable mentions are the Mitsubishi Lancer, Opel Astra, Ford Ikon,Hyundai Accent for City; Ford Mondeo, Opel Vectra,Škoda Superb for the Accord; Hyundai Tucson CRDi 1st gen for the CRV but none of them had the appeal of Honda cars due to either reliablity and maintenance issues or poor brand image and weird designs thus not being able to even come close to mighty Honda let alone defeating them.

Things took a drastic turn from the end of the first decade of ‘00s. Honda Siel Cars now became Honda Cars India Ltd. which took an extremely opposite approach. They discontinued their premium cars which was Honda’s forte launched poorly built, shoddy cheap products with glaring cost cutting just to gain market share which was the kick starter of demise of Honda. People outrightly rejected them since they didn’t even come close the people’s expectations from Honda let alone their own good cars. They faced massive losses and literally shattered into pieces and now just somehow trying to survive in the market.

The full advantage of this situation was utilised by the Koreans, slowly but steadily they perfected their designs and engineering skills and started making state of the art machines which were more reliable than Europeans thereby slowly emerging as a Premium Brand for Indian families, Indians love them due to their stylish appearance, reliable and low maintenance and what everything Honda was once loved for apart from Fun to Drive characteristic but that was okay for most Indians thus emerging as a Giant.

I can see Honda Cars India future to worsen even further. I think the top management of Honda Global has just lost faith on its Indian arm and unwilling to pump any fresh investment and left to survive on its own. The Indian arm seriously lacks funds now which is why they sold their Greater Noida facilities, involving in cheap cost cutting, not bringing new engines and technology and flogging their aging and boring lineup of cars with useless facelifts. I don’t see any way forward for Honda India TBH.

Moral of the story- Don’t ever become overconfident and treat your customers as fools; secondly don’t underestimate your rivals irrespective of how much small they are and last but not the least do something new everyday not just lay back on your old glory.

Sorry for the long post but this is coming from the bottom of the heart of a diehard Honda fan. Thank you!