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-   -   Why is Honda Brio not selling in big numbers? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/151333-why-honda-brio-not-selling-big-numbers-3.html)

Lack of marketing and a small boot made the brio tank in our market. I think it has superior quality over almost all hatches at it's price point.

Marketing is honda's fault. Clearly, they didn't market it aggressively. They haven't really gone on an ad campaign like Hyundai.

People will complain about the boot as it can't hold a couple's luggage of three days. There's a reason behind the small boot: The Jazz. Honda don't want overlap with the Jazz.

I think the Brio is being cannibalized by the Amaze and I think Honda dealers are playing a not-so-small role in this.

Recently, my brother-in-law wanted to replace his aging Santro and sought my advise with a 6L budget. I asked him to check out the Brio. He went to the showroom and came back with a booking on the entry level Amaze. The SA talked him into it. The wife and the kids jumped at the possibility of having a "long" car at home. I had to lecture them for hours altogether after which they bought the City SV.

Although this story had a happier ending, many a buyer who goes to the showroom with Brio in his shopping list spends another 1.5 lacs for a car-with-a-boot, ugly looks notwithstanding.

Isn't the Brio costlier than its counterparts and features wise even poorer? Maybe the features in Brio were adequate when it was launched but with the new i10 grand and micra upping the features list the market has moved away.

It's wrong to say there are no ads for Brio. Since the last year there are regular print ads of Brio offering free insurance and ready delivery from time to time, but not like hyundai which has an ad at least every week.


I also didn't know the Brio was such a fun to drive car!! I own a Brio Vx AT, and while the front seats are quite spacious the rear seats are quite cramped and moreover you have to watch your head from getting banged while entering the rear seats.

Personally in terms of fun to drive and chuckability I think the Brio cannot even hold a candle to the swift. The Swift handles any abuse you can throw at it with aplomb while you cant even think of that with the Brio!!

And yes as someone mentioned previously loading luggage into a well is quite an apt description but its a very small well.

Honda has a very premium image. I personally know about 4 other people who own Brio's but as their second or third car. So maybe people who consider the Brio as their primary car migrate to the Amaze since it has a decent boot plus better rear seat comfort. Diesel option would be the icing!!

This is very true. SA thinks it is their solemn duty to play guidance counselor to the point of irritating the customer. My SA couldn't even believe I wanted to buy the Brio over the Amaze and kept giving on so many reasons to go for the Amaze.

Three reasons:
1. Lesser number of sales outlets that Maruti/Hyundai. There are a lot of buyers in semi-urban or rural India
2. Honda is associated with high maintenance costs compered to Maruti
3. Will not please typical Indian buyer due to looks, large glass area (considered fragile), low ground clearance associated with Honda and lack of decent boot space.

I don't. lol:

1.The system on the top 2 models is really good with integrated console and 4 speakers that pack a good punch.the lower models are bad.
2.For the front seats,i agree there is a lot of cost cutting there.honda could have done better here.my indica had thicker seats.

I agree.same thing happened with my cousin. Had asked him to TD the brio and i10 G.He ended up booking the amaze :Frustrati sadly i couldn't convince him to upgrade to a city or a top end brio with ABS,EBD and air bags.I believe these are a must.

I believe you find the swift better than the brio is because you have an AT! The auto box of brio i hear is prone to the 'rubber band' effect where it struggles to tap in on torque when needed. Tryout a manual brio :)


I still believe Brio is the best car around :D

I can list down a few reasons:
a) Expensive after sales maintenance
b) Honda dealership missing in small towns which are the base for Maruti and Hyundai
c) Glass hatch and non practical boot space
d) Resale value low as compared to Swift and i10
e) Grand i10 entry has made this segment an all new fight club.

Just came across this thread, when a friend was contemplating buying a Brio.

Had been to a Honda dealer in Mumbai and they had a 2012 Brio in stock (3 of them, and none are test / demo vehicles).

In 2012, V MT was the top end (VX MT now) - This didn't have tilt steering and defogger.

We zeroed in on the VMT and they were ready to give a discount of 1 lac, over the existing VX MT OTR, with the best OTR quote of 5.65 lacs.

They were not ready to budge any further on the pricing. My friend probably will settle for a Micra now.

A 2012 model unsold car lying in the dealership stockyard, and they're still not ready to budge on the pricing.

The 2014 model has "no discount" and top end VX MT Mumbai registration is almost 6.5+ OTR which is insane!

Not sure what Honda, as well as dealerships are upto.

Brio will be killed just like Jazz was, simply because of the pricing.

I too find the Brio's pricing to be insane. IIRC, earlier, the airbags and ABS were optional on the S variant. AFAIK, they aren't available even in V now. Only VX has them. VX costs 6.85L here. Why would one pay that when Swift ZXI is available for 7.13? I used to find the ZXI overpriced, but Brio beats it easily.

Honda unfortunately set the bar too high for themselves with their offerings in the past (OHC).
Also Honda is not perceived as a mass car manufacturer like (Suzuki, Hyundai, etc.) in India, but a certain level class car manufacturer. As many have pointed out, people in India are very averse to risking their monies with a product thats not mass sold or seen.
Even though the Brio sells in such low numbers, Honda hasn't resorted to any of the weight reduction tactics (read: removing strengthening beams) to boost profits, not that it needs any reduction.
Many might also not know, that the Brio beat the SWIFT around a track with it teeny weedy tyres, so theres no doubt about the FTD factor at all.
To each his own, i found the Brio satisfying all my requirements and even exceeding some!

I know a lot of people who want to buy the Brio, but they're mostly women who think the car is "cute" :P

That said I have seen a fair number of Brio's in Mumbai. Not as much as Swifts and i10s, but it surely can't be called a dud

How about the limited boot space of Brio as compared to Grand i10 and Swift? Any differences there?

Also another point I am not sure on this one but I somehow remember this one. When the Brio was released I think there was no rear parcel tray. Hence there was no security from prying eyes for one's belongings, when kept in the car in the boot. And of course the huge glass created the difference in perception of safety when being rear-ended.

Grand i10 has better boot space. Swift is better than Brio but it feels worse because of the shape & the high lip that makes it hard to load & remove luggage. Amongst mid-size hatchbacks, Brio has the smallest boot.

I get stopped in traffic signals by people complementing about the looks & then asking me about all the features that they have in mind from other hatchbacks, mid-way in the discussion they are already bored of all negative answers. I tell them about the low-end power and how fun it's to drive on highways, they are not interested. For them a hatchback is a city car with all the features they want just to go from point A to point B. So, at the end of conversation when it comes to mileage & price, they are already being let down.

I think it's a healthy trade-off to let go features for performance. Brio does not fail there. But people now have more choices and Honda have other priorities.

As far as Brio AT is concerned, I used to get that slow achievement of torque initially and now once run-in done gentle consideration on pedal let the engine knows how to behave.

That's the best behavior of Brio, it has a character of reluctant friend not a nagging wife (no offense)

+1,

The Brio was launched without a parcel tray and this was criticised by all so Honda did add one during the facelift.

Check post No.: 07, GTO's post illustrating a picture that shows the boot and its contents.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ve-review.html

Anurag.