Team-BHP - Honda to focus on diesel engines, small compact cars for India

Quote:

Japanese auto major Honda Motor Co is focussing on development of diesel engines and small compact cars in order to meet specific demands from the Indian market.

Source and Link - Honda to focus on diesel engines, small compact cars for India - The Economic Times

Quote:

Originally Posted by rameshnanda (Post 2594749)

Source and Link - Honda to focus on diesel engines, small compact cars for India - The Economic Times

Wow that's some good news! Imagine a compact car with a diesel engine and Honda's reliability. That would be a Win-Win situation.

Finally Honda, the comapny which had 4 segment leaders in its product portfolio which had only 4 cars has woken up! Come on Honda, don't just keep blaming the quality of diesel in India as the reason for not bringing diesel engines to our country. Bring it on, and more importantly, price it competitively.

Honda announces new Earth Dreams engine family with direct injection

Read more: Honda announces new Earth Dreams engine family with direct injection

Maybe the new diesel engine announced is why they are holding back and will enter the market with that instead of the 2.2L engine they currently have?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mempheS.D (Post 2594825)

:Frustrati One more contributor to smog and particulate matter !

Yet Diesel is the fuel of the day.....in India. The only reason Honda is lagging behind in India is due to lack of diesels. With the current petrol prices,it makes more sense going in for a diesel even while considering the higher cost of ownership.

I agree, ashis89. Not that I'm one those "go-green" types. But yet, a move like this from Honda is definitely going to upset the petrolheads. The reason being, if Honda prices their diesels competitively not compromising on the reliability basement they stand upon, that's going to be an obvious magnet for customers hunting in that range.

Honda should stop talking about diesels and actually bring them. They have been "talking" for many years now.

Coming to the engine, a 1.6L engine for Civic, even with turbocharger and 120ps is puny. The benchmark in that segment has already moved up, thanks to Cruze, Jetta and Laura. I guess the new Elantra should also come in a higher engine tune.

1.6L should be in City, fighting out with other 1.6L like Verna, Vento and Rapid. If they fit that in City, even with a bit of premium pricing, it will rule the segment again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mempheS.D (Post 2594825)

:Frustrati One more contributor to smog and particulate matter !

I definetely disagree. Please go through the statistics and you will find that petrol is the highest contributor to pollution and it does not burn completely as the diesel. Hence petrol is less fuel efficient than the diesel and it emits more harmful pollutants than the diesel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mempheS.D (Post 2594880)

I don't understand why such a move would upset petrol heads. Heck, I would guess otherwise that it would benefit petrol heads. Honda will still continue with their petrol power plants, and the addition of a diesel would result in lower sales of petrol, and thus (hopefully) bigger discounts on the petrol! :D stupid:

Besides, diesels today are as powerful, cleaner (debatable), and more economical. The only problem being they aren't as mod-friendly as petrols (though not impossible to modify either), and they don't revv to 6000 + RPM with a sweet growl.

Good to see Honda has realized the existence of this market, and I hope the new engine is powerful as well as reliable! Bring in better interiors and kit, and Honda has a winner on their hands (not that they wouldn't at current levels of quality and equipment, but no harm hoping they would work on this also, instead of when they are losing out on sales numbers).

Source: Motoroids

Quote:

Finally, Honda Motor Company has managed to create a mid-size engine which would be able to power its cars ranging from the City to the Civic. The 1.6-liter engine (1596cc) was badly required by Honda for diesel happy markets such as Europe and India. Till now Honda had only one diesel engine, the 2.2 liter i-Dtec, but its large size doesn’t allow it to be fitted in smaller cars. The all-new engine to be fitted in the new Civic in the later part of 2012 is capable of delivering peak power of 120PS at 4000 rpm and peak torque of 300 Nm at 2000 rpm. In India we will also see this on the City.

So do you think this new 'heart' will do wonders for Honda India?