[mxh]

Just found this thread and really quite surprised reading through it. team bhp 'enthusiasts' really need to stop bad mouthing products before they are even launched. Else the whole market will be Marutis. From what I see in the videos above the car looks pretty cool. As for the engines, if they price the diesel well, I think it looks better than the Brezza and also since it's based on the Jazz it is going to be safer than a Brezza. Maruti is making tin cans like the Baleno (which looks old in a few months) and the ugly Ignis and people are still buying their stuff. So think before posting your opinions about a product you don't know enough about since they can unnecessarily harm the product

[Carma2017]

Relax MXH. People are entitled to their opinions. Milking one platform continuously with similar looking cars one after the other irks people. We all know how good Honda can be. And we also know we are not getting the best of them in India.
Nobody wants Maruti clones in India. Please remember that this forum overwhelmingly voted for Tiago as COTY.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Senna4Ever

Confirmation of the same:

Primary mechanical advantage over the Jazz seems to be the 195/60 R16 tyres, whereas Jazz only had 175/65 R15 tyres. More apt tyre size considering the diesel variant has a 100 horses.

Could be a bane for the 1.2 petrol variant though!

[adimicra]

I am thoroughly gdisappointed with the Honda WR-V. Looks like Honda doesn't know what they really want.
Do they want to compete in the cross-hatchback segment with the likes of I20 Active?
OR,
They want to compete with the likes of Ecosport and Brezza?

It is pretty clear that Honda didn't have the conviction to build this product and the result is a confused product. It does look quite different from the Jazz but then it does look like a cross-hatch from many angles. It's pretty clear that people are willing to shell out more for a proper mini-SUV look - Ecosport/Brezza easily outsells cross-hatchback segment (likes of I20 active). But, rather than building a proper mini-SUV based on the Jazz platform, they have delivered an utterly confused product which doesn't cater to any segment.

The front looks too busy and neither has the elegance or the butch mini-SUV look. The side profile looks same as the Jazz while the rear looks chic to me and is the best part about the car. Overall, on the mini-SUV/crossover looks, it's a big thumbs down for me. God knows why they couldn't simply copy the looks of the Vezel/HR-V.

The car will come with the same engines as the Jazz which again is a big downer and a lost opportunity. Given the preference of buyers for petrol cars, Honda couldn't have possibly asked for a better reason to plonk the 1.5 IVTEC in the WR-V. But, alas! Imagine this - none of the compact SUVs have a good petrol option. So, the 1.5 on the WR-V would have been a killer prospect. God knows what the Honda India management is smoking!

From the features point of view, I do not see anything substantial over the Jazz. It will have a DRL along with bigger and thicker tyres - that's all.. Not even projector headlights. Overall, the WRV has failure written all over it even if it's priced similar to the I20 Active. It just doesn't have anything going for it.

On another note, the only car in India which Honda seems to be paying attention to is the City. They seemed to have loaded the City facelift with all possible goodies one would want. Why can't they do that in other segments?

Honda India tried to compete in the volume segment by offering similar price toHyundai and Maruti, failed terribly, offered substandard products with poor feature set and tarnished their brand image.Now, it's high time to get their act together. Honda India needs to compete in terms of - better quality products than Maruti/Hyundai, better safety, fully loaded feature set, lower running costs and years of hassle-free ownership even if that comes with a slightly higher cost. The success of Creta/Innova etc clearly show that the India consumer is ready to shell out slightly more for the right desirable product. And that's what Honda India needs to focus on - start making desirable products again.

The immediate opportunity for Honda is to introduce the 1.0 and 1.2 turbo engines in their cars, and bring global models like HRV to India fast.
But knowing Honda India, this is not going to happen anytime soon.

[RavenAvi]

The upcoming Honda WR-V crossover will feature the all-new 7-inch DigiPad touchscreen which debuted with the 2017 Honda City facelift yesterday.

This new 7.0-inch unit replaces Honda’s previous aftermarket-looking 6.2-inch system, which was there in the previous model as well as in the Honda Jazz. Now, the upcoming Honda’s debutant sub-4m SUV, the WR-V, will also feature the new Digipad infotainment system.

Comes with a 7.0-inch capacitive touch-based screen; the previous 6.2-inch unit had a resistive touchscreen,
Satellite-linked built in navigation with microSD card-based maps and live traffic updates,
Voice recognition via unit or steering-mounted buttons,
Comes with 1.5 gigabytes of internal storage and offers connectivity, options such as Bluetooth phone integration, 2 USB-in slots, 2 microSD card slots and 1 HDMI-in slot,
MirrorLink smartphone integration with select app usage through the car’s infotainment display.

Car Dekho

[srishiva]

Honda and Toyota are losing the game to Hyundai and possibly Maruti in the compact (or midsize ?) segment of SUVs.
Honda is wasting its efforts with too many dud products. At least Toyota has MUV/SUVs in higher segments that are leaders.

[The Brutailer]

Can't help but notice how uncanny the tail lamp design is to a BMW SUV's design. To be honest, except for City and CRV, none of Honda's cars in India can be called striking or beautiful.

This car could've been a game changer if it had 1.5 iVtec but no! Honda wants to make another Jazz. This car had the potential to replace the flop B-RV.

I like Honda but apart from City, they don't have even one competent product.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Honda India tried to compete in the volume segment by offering similar price toHyundai and Maruti, failed terribly, offered substandard products with poor feature set and tarnished their brand image.Now, it's high time to get their act together.

Honda has made it clear that they will maintain a premium positioning going forward. No more competition with Maruti and Hyundai segments.

And the next launch is the WRV, which would reflect this new strategy. Hopefully, this will be good for the brand going forward.

"The brand positioning is thus being scaled up. We now have a strategy to maintain our traditional positioning, which is a bit more premium though not luxury. So, we would like to target customers a bit different from Maruti or Hyundai. We would like to do that in terms of products, service, and customer experience."

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-wr-v/57157911

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Honda has made it clear that they will maintain a premium positioning going forward. No more competition with Maruti and Hyundai segments.

They want to feel premium compared to a Suzuki or a Hyundai, but do they have products in their portfolio to match those aspirations? It’s a tall ask considering how much they have diluted their product portfolio in India.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

"The brand positioning is thus being scaled up. We now have a strategy to maintain our traditional positioning, which is a bit more premium though not luxury. So, we would like to target customers a bit different from Maruti or Hyundai. We would like to do that in terms of products, service, and customer experience."

Is Honda indirectly admitting that it's 2013 strategy of taking Honda "mainstream" in India has flopped?

Except for the City, and to some extent the Amaze, none of the newer Honda products have performed at the sales BO as expected. Furthermore, the brand has completely diluted due to these "mainstream" offerings and has lost it's mojo.

At least, before they brought in the Brio platform and tried to milk it to death, they had a lineup which people aspired to be a part of - Jazz, City, Civic, CR-V, Accord. A bit short on features, but technically and performance-wise, quite sound. More importantly, each car was a brand in itself.

It will be interesting to see what strategy they adopt for the WR-V. Keep it competitively priced and take on the immediate competition, or price it at a premium and take a risk. The latter might not pay, since the WR-V is a completely new product.

One thing is for sure - Honda needs to do something spectacular to crack the sub-Honda City market and ensure the WR-V's success.

[rutvij]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

"The brand positioning is thus being scaled up. We now have a strategy to maintain our traditional positioning, which is a bit more premium though not luxury. So, we would like to target customers a bit different from Maruti or Hyundai. We would like to do that in terms of products, service, and customer experience."

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-wr-v/57157911

Too late to realise this. Hyundai and Maruti have now moved up the ladder. With the kind of products that Honda is coming out with, it seems that no space will be left for them in Indian market in near future!

Earlier Honda distinguished itself on the basis of engine technology and well engineered premium products. Maruti and Hundai have narrowed the gap with Honda on both these counts. They have started offering premium products with good engines and good interiors at better price than Honda. Honda has its task cut out in Indian Market.

[RavenAvi]

Autocar Professional reports that Honda Cars India will launch the WR-V on March 16, 2017.

Honda Cars India, has bought 380 acres of land at Vithalapur, near the scooter manufacturing plant of sister firm, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, to set up its third plant in the country at a later date.
Yoichiro Ueno, president and CEO of Honda Cars India, said the rationale behind buying the land is the constantly rising costs of real estate in India. This will enable the company to ensure there is no time lag when it decides to set up its third car manufacturing plant.

Meanwhile, Honda is gearing up to launch its next vehicle for India – the Jazz-based crossover hatchback, WR-V. First revealed on November 9, 2016 at the Sao Paulo Auto Show, the India launch is on March 16.
According to Honda, the WR-V (which stands for ‘Winsome Runabout Vehicle’) is a “tough and urban” SUV design as well as excellent utility and offers a spacious cabin within a compact body size. Other attributes are high fuel economy and stable handling performance.

[ritayan]

I saw a Orange WR-V being offloaded on the 18th in Kolkata near Honda's regional training center at Eco Space. First the back looked like a reworked BR-V, but the side profile made me realise the car was WR-V. Since was in a rush to reach my sons school for PTM did not stop to take any pics. Overall felt City front and Brv back end.

[dZired]

Pics: Honda WR-V being shipped to dealerships

Thank you to Team-BHP fan Bijoy B S for sending these images in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing them with other enthusiasts!

Honda appears to have started shipping the WR-V compact crossover to its dealerships, ahead of its official launch in the coming months. A white WR-V has been spotted at a dealer stockyard in Trivandrum, Kerala.

The spotted model is in the VX trim, which is expected to be the top-end variant in the WR-V line-up. Exterior design elements visible in the images include circular fog lamps, new headlight assemblies which are expected to get LED DRLs, faux skid plates on the front and rear bumpers, turn indicators integrated in the ORVMs, silver roof rails, chrome door handles, diamond cut alloy wheels and revised tail lights. The tailgate mounted number plate housing gets a chrome appliqué above it.

The interiors are similar to that of the Jazz hatchback, however the WR-V appears to have borrowed the infotainment system from the new City. Slightly revised seat upholstery and a new gear lever appear to be the other changes made in the WR-V's cabin. It is also worth noting that there is no start/stop button on offer.

As per some media reports, Honda is expected to launch the WR-V in India on March 16, 2017.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Hickstead]

IMHO, WR-V has better road presence than expected, especially in white. Alloys are looking good. I don't think this vehicle will get enough blessings from T-BHP due to the following let downs.
1) 1.2 L petrol heart.
2) Skinny tyres.
3) Missing Start/Stop button.