[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by Ponkermania

About Honda bouncing back - I'm not so sure. I think they've woken up to the realities of diesel in our market far too late, and have brought in their first diesel engine in India just when diesel is going to be deregulated.

That said, I have absolutely zero faith in this government, especially in an election year, and I don't think they will actually deregulate the price of diesel. But if they do, Honda may have invested all that money in a new diesel engine for nothing, and their bounce back may be short lived.

It has been discussed multiple times here, the general agreement has been that Diesel engines will be predominant, de regulation or not.

A lot of people do like the addictive torque of Diesel engines and won't go back to petrol. And to add (I have said this before), a vast majority of Honda owners never revv past the 3K mark, so the inherent engineering prowess of ivtech engine is lost on them.

They did a smart thing getting the Diesel. What remains to be seen is if they do not get overwhelmed by the numbers that will generated post the City, Jazz and Mobilio, and actually bother to regain a foothold in the premium segment by re-launching the Accord and Civic.

Honda will bounce back, in a way probably never seen in Indian car market before. Right now, they are not putting a single foot wrong, including pricing where they have been pretty arrogant earlier. Of course it's the (in)famous Indian car market and I may have to eat my words later. But really, take a look at the competition, Honda is the only one with a clear headed plan in place. And they have a low base to begin with. Even 3-4K increase in sales per month is a big deal for them.

Originally Posted by asr245

Current generation Accord looked fantastic and was aspirational for me. Luxury sedan (below the 3 Germans) with excellent reliability & above average A.S.S. What was not to like. I had plans to buy a pre-owned one down the line but now that's out of the window.

So what choice do I have if I want to upgrade from my City? (No Skoda/German/French car for me)

That's exactly what we are ruing about. The only option is Corolla or Camry, but then which guy below 40 would want that

[Ponkermania]

Originally Posted by avisidhu

And to add (I have said this before), a vast majority of Honda owners never revv past the 3K mark, so the inherent engineering prowess of ivtech engine is lost on them.

Honda will bounce back, in a way probably never seen in Indian car market before. Right now, they are not putting a single foot wrong, including pricing where they have been pretty arrogant earlier.

You're right, the general preference seems to be diesel, and it seems to be relatively inelastic (compared to petrol) to the price difference between the fuels. However, going by international markets, if diesel and petrol are fully deregulated (i.e. no government interference whatsoever) diesel should be very slightly more expensive than petrol. This will be more than negated by the greater mileage that diesel engined cars return, but I'm not sure the Indian customer will like paying more for a litre. Anyway, it will be an interesting thing to watch.

On the pricing front - hope they are sane with the pricing of the New City!

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by asr245

Current generation Accord looked fantastic and was aspirational for me. Luxury sedan (below the 3 Germans) with excellent reliability & above average A.S.S. What was not to like. I had plans to buy a pre-owned one down the line but now that's out of the window.

So what choice do I have if I want to upgrade from my City? (No Skoda/German/French car for me)

Why not Toyota Camry Hybrid? Diesel like efficiency with refinement of petrol.

Cheers,

Jay

[Ponkermania]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Why not Toyota Camry Hybrid? Diesel like efficiency with refinement of petrol.

Cheers,

Jay

Bit expensive no? Isn't it close to 30 lakh OTR?

[asr245]

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

Why not Toyota Camry Hybrid? Diesel like efficiency with refinement of petrol.

Cheers,

Jay

Like Avisidhu said, Toyota's look boring. Maybe when I am 50ish but till then neither Corolla nor Camry seem to have the flair of the Civic or the Accord. And I don't car much about mileage with the mount of mileage I do.

[Ponkermania]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Very sad news indeed. Have been toying with the idea of buying a used Accord V6 just for the heck of owning a V6. Imagine a V6 which is Japanese and hence relatively more reliable. Alas, that chance goes out the window. I mean the prices of used Accords will carsh further, but whent it is time for me to sell and move on, I won't get a buyer.

A Japanese V6 will be fun. I would suggest that you buy it anyway, because cars with a good reputation/brand image sell no matter what. Case in point being the Maruti Zen (not the Estilo). It has been discontinued for some time now, but still sells for reasonable prices in the used car market.

You might look at the 3.5 V6, of the current generation Accord. All that complicated Variable Cylinder Management should return decent fuel economy, while still giving you all the V6 fun when you're in the mood for it. If not, there's always the good old 3 litre unit.

[316kmph]

That's a shame. It will be interesting to understand what's going inside the head of the buyers of the 25 - 30 Lakh cars.

The Accords, Camrys and the like offer superior space (both cabin and trunk) compared to the A classes, Q3s and even 3 series' and A4s.

Being Japanese, they are more reliable and probably cheaper to maintain than the Europeans.

While fuel costs are high (being petrol), they are smoother & more refined than the German diesels... however if fuel costs were of concern then the Passat should have done well.

Real competition comes in the form of the 3s, A4s and the C classes which are clearly 20 - 30% pricier, whilst still being a full size smaller.

This IMHO only points out that the typical Indian customer willing to spend around 25 -35 lakhs on a car would by an SUV or a luxury marquee and extra space, reliability, price and high refinement are not the top items of their shopping criteria!!

[RS_DEL]

Pulling the plug when fuel price rationalisation is an ongoing process and the diesel mill powered demand is moderating does not look like the thing one ought to be doing.

[pgsagar]

The onslaught of the German brigade has taken a very heavy toll on Jap cars. Plus, absence of diesel among Civic / Accord / Corolla (not worth mentioning diesel) / Camry and presence of strong diesel motors among German has done the Japs in. Indians' romance with German cars shows no sign of abating. More than cities, it is small towns and even villages where people just aspire to buy a German. Intenet is replete with stories of breakdowns of German cars but, either car-buying crowd does not browse or does not bother.

It is only the educated, well-researched and NRI type crowd which seems to be buying Accrods/camrys. Personally, I would prefer Jap. If you are buying used, it makes even more sense to buy a Jap. Accords/Camrys in used market sell for a song. Plus being petrol, they seldom log over 50K km. So, they are cheap to buy, hardly break down, have not logged starship mileage. The only downside is petrol price but since you might have picked a used one dirt cheap, use some of what you have saved upfront on fuel. Better still, have it as a second car to have a blast on weekends.

Just a comparison. An '07 Accord may come for 3 to 3.5L whereas a '07 Laura diesel will set you back at 6 to 7 L. Not just that. While Accord might have logged under 50K kms, Laura diesel might have made several trips to Mars and would be on the verge of disintegrating. And Skoda parts/repairs/service centres being what they are, I think it would make immense sense to buy a good used petrol over a good used diesel. Any good Accord V6 out there?

[rajamuneeb]

According to Autocar India Honda and VW have discontinued Accord and Passat respectively citing hardly any sale of these models as a reason. Shows that when it comes to competing with brands like BMW,Audi and Merc they still have a long way to go as the brand image is not of that premium mark.

[filhosdegoa]

Honda will surely loose it's prestige value in India if they discontinue the Accord, Honda's flagship model which must have recorded less sales figures but definitely commanded a lot of respect!

I am looking forward to seeing the 2013 Accord in India as it is truly a pretty car with a no nonsense, neat design. The civic too is a nice car to have, but as long as its going to be back on sale, no disappointment here.

I own a Honda Brio as I like its performance but besides that, it also holds a badge that's superior to a Maruti or a Hyundai.

So c'mon Honda, you flagship model need not sell in large numbers, but it's surely a respectable car to be your flagship model. What I meant was that Maruti or Hyundai is known to be a company tfats makes the Alto and i10 resply and some bigger cars. But Honda is known to make the Accord & Civic and few smaller cars. So whatever the sales volume, the Accord needs to continue in India.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Any good Accord V6 out there?

Yup mine But best of luck getting any 07 Accord in good condition at 3.5l lol.

Also this is probably a move like they did with the Civic - The next gen Accord will probably be launched in a few months with a diesel too.

[chittybang]

may be its the playground phenomenon. When the real bullies with the big toys get in then the pseudo bullies make way and end up in the sides involuntarily. Honda and Toyota have maintained a luxury image so far but with BMW, AUDI and MERC getting serious in this segment and many other fringe luxury brands eyeing some market share, it was inevitable that they either introduce more aspirational products or fall by the wayside.

[RavenAvi]

Following the news of Honda discontinuing the current-gen Accord in India, comes the bigger news of Honda planning to relaunch the Accord in India in it's 2014 Hybrid avatar.

Already available in the North American markets, the new-gen 2014 Accord Hybrid will be locally assembled in India before going on sale, allowing Honda Cars India to price it aggressively against other competitors' similar offerings.

It is is powered by Honda's first two-motor hybrid system, and uses a new Earth Dreams 2.0-liter i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine producing 137 horsepower, teamed with a powerful 124-kilowatt (kW) electric motor. Electric driving is supported by a 6.7 kilowatt-hour (kWh) lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery, and total system output is 196 horsepower.

Expect the 2014 Accord Hybrid to be priced around the 30L-32L range.

A video showcasing the 2014 Accord Hybrid:

SOURCE - http://www.zigwheels.com/news-featur...o-india/17567/

[CARDEEP]

Expect the 2014 Accord Hybrid to be priced around the 30L-32L range.

At this price this is another Dud in the making, for the car would not sell for 2/3 of the above price, & yet they have the audacity to launch the car at this price levels.

I bet they are making room for non-hybrid next gen Accord to appear VFM, & thus make it sell good numbers in India.