[geotracks]

Honda’s strategy for Indian customers in my opinion could have been better. Other than their flagship product, the Honda City, Honda really does not any other promising product to cater to the mid to upper segments of buyers. Today many Indian customers are willing to pay higher for feature rich, solid built and imposing cars (Innova Crysta, XUV, Creta etc.). The sales figures for Creta, Innova or for that matter Fortuner speak for itself – all more expensive than Mobilio & B-RV, but selling so much more.

But Honda went the other way, to capture the small to medium size car market. This market is already saturated with proven products like, Swift, Baleno, i-10, i-20, Ertiga etc. They tried to take the Brio platform, increase the wheelbase and fit Mobilio & BR-V on it and tried catering to mass market to compete generally with Maruti & Hyundai products. With the result, Honda rolled out “small” 7 seaters, having neither the feature set / richness nor the stance of a true SUV or MUV on the road.

Honda really does not have any imposing looking SUV / MUV in the INR 22L – 26L range where the feature rich XUV & bullet proof reliability of the Innova Crysta sit. Honda really needs to re-think their strategy for the Indian market. In my opinion even the WR-V (I have not actually seen it other than in pictures) which is on the Jaaz platform will fall short for many Indian customers who maybe in the market for a true 5-seater SUV (CRETA, upcoming JEEP Compass etc.) or true 7-seater SUV / MUV.

Honda should really consider getting at least something like the Honda Vezel (found in SE Asia market) or something equivalent to the Innova Crysta. The Honda CR-V is in a different league cost wise so customers in the INR 22L – 26L budget may find it a stretch.

[GTO]

This is the case of a parent murdering its own child.

By itself, the Mobilio wasn't bad. Good engines, neutral suspension, lots of space in the 1st & 2nd rows and a fair boot.

But Honda murdered it with two things:

1. Greed in overpricing it. The Mobilio had no business being sold at a higher price than the Ertiga.

2. Greed in cutting costs. Man, there were so many cheap / unfinished / poor areas on the car.

If it didn't feel as cheap and if the price was right, it would've have fought hard with the Ertiga.

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

Looks like the Honda guys are smoking some wrong weed. The entire Brio platform is a disaster.

While the Brio platform does have more failures than successes, the Amaze has brought in the numbers.

[su1978]

Without prejudice against all the comments above, i would take this opportunity to comment on the reasons why this car was a failure and now Honda decides to discontinue it.

Firstly, Honda was never interested in selling this car. Rather i would put it in this way that Honda did not have the guts to sell this car. Even the sales persons were never having any knowledge or interest to sell it. Despite having no connection or incentive from Honda, i single handedly convinced the customers on buying this car and the dealer managed to clear all its stocks(almost 25 cars-Petrol/diesel combined) of Mobilio. The sales person referred my name to the prospective buyers. Next day the customers booked their cars.

Secondly, I have found this car to be utmost in comfort(compared to Ertiga-its core competetior) on long drives with a car full of luggage and 6 persons. The performance of air-conditioner is simply superb in the scorching heat of June in Delhi. Ertiga fares very poorly. In all parameters, i found Ertiga to be a dud.

Thirdly, if one goes thru the review on this wonderful site for Mobilio, one would see that Mobilio scores significantly higher than Ertiga on all parameters. Be it power to weight ratio or the BHP figures or the equipment list. Coming to the interiors, can anyone please tell me the difference between the interiors or dashboard layout of Swift, Swift dzire and Ertiga. Have a look inside. All are same. No difference. So why this cribbing about the interiors.

Fourthly, for all those comments mentioning that the NVH levels are on the higher side and truck like noise inside the cabin, it is an open invitation to all the members to check the vehicle that is properly maintained and not the ones running as taxis. Many times, my colleagues whom i convey that there is a diesel engine under the hood, simply refuse to believe so. That too when they themselves are driving Maruti and Hyundai petrol engines. Also consider the million dollar question for we Indians-"Kitna deti hai". I get 23.3 kilometres to a litre of diesel in city driving conditions. Go bite the dust Maruti. Regular driving speed is 60-70

Fifth, Hopefully all are aware that the price of vehicle depends upon engine displacement, ground clearance and many other factors which i also am not fully aware. These factors make up for the vehicle pricing. So why this hue & cry with regards to the cost of vehicle?

Sixth, consider the service cost of a Maruti diesel and Honda diesel. I got my 30000 kms servicing done for 4300/- from the dealership. This is a dream for maruti owners. 20000 kms was done for a measly 6035 Rs. all inclusive. For me this was a dream when i got my 2011 model Ritz VDI serviced. Average bill was close to 8500 Rs every time. If required, i can publish the bill also. An open challenge to all the Maruti diesel owners to get their cars services at company owned service centres.

It just has to do with the mindset that we Indians suffer from. We will buy any scrap from Maruti but not from any other company. Leave Honda alone. Market did not respond very well to Tiago also or even for that matter many other beautiful and named brands.

[octane_100]

Sad to see the Mobilio go. I feel Honda never realized the Mobilio's true potential because of its greed. IMO, Mobilio was the best looking MPV, especially the RS version (felt like a sporty Estate than an MPV) and had the Honda badge and also the spacious interiors going for it. If only Honda had worked on the interiors and also kept a check on their pricing, it would have given the Ertiga a good run for its money.

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by octane_100

Sad to see the Mobilio go. I feel Honda never realized the Mobilio's true potential because of its greed.

Yes Sad indeed. But as a business you have to take tough decisions. Honda has got the partial replica of Mobilio in the form of BRV.
What I have heard from my friends and acquaintance for not choosing Honda Mobilio or for that matter BRV is because it shares the same platform to that of Brio. For them it seems Honda cars are extension of Brio chassis.

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

WRV is a totally different product as compared to the Mobilio.

I understand its a totally different product and hence I have mentioned the same in my post as well.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

More than being mass market, it is the commercial positioning that might have caused Honda to discontinue the Brio.

I hope you meant Mobilio here. And hence it makes more sense discontinuing the Mobilio which due to the precise reason below

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

BRV is everything a Mobilio is, and then some more. Good move if they discontinue the Mobilio and make a better case for the BRV, IMHO.

All they needed was a reason and they found one.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

News has been confirmed by Honda.
Honda Mobilio has been discontinued as it doesn't conform to the upcoming safety norms in India. They are evaluating whether or not to launch the updated model, due to lower sales figures.

[su1978]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Yes Sad indeed. But as a business you have to take tough decisions. Honda has got the partial replica of Mobilio in the form of BRV.
What I have heard from my friends and acquaintance for not choosing Honda Mobilio or for that matter BRV is because it shares the same platform to that of Brio. For them it seems Honda cars are extension of Brio chassis.

Have you tried asking them that what difference does it make to the vehicle stability and performance on the road in real life scenarios. For that matter, Ritz, Swift, Dzire, Ertiga, Baleno etc are all made on the same platform. I am sure that they would be having Maruti in their minds or would have wanted to buy Body over chassis vehicle framework. Second option they would have in mind would be the new age Pseudo-SUV in form of Ford Ecosport/Hyundai Creta/Breeza/Renault Duster/Nissan Terrano etc. Station wagon type of vehicle do not exhibit flamboyance while on road. And yes, Mobilio definitely does not exhibit anything like that from any angle. From sheer utility point of view, Mobilio fits the bill from all angles.

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by su1978

Without prejudice against all the comments above, i would take this opportunity to comment on the reasons why this car was a failure and now Honda decides to discontinue it.

Agree on some points but disagree on some others
The Mobilio was a potent car but as GTO summarized it, Honda killed her !

My counter-points
#3. The dashboard design is uninspiring ('boring' to put it bluntly) for a car that costs almost 10 lakh INR on the road. Maruti siblings share the same dash but at the same time they do look better (Compared to old Brio). Why would Honda take so much pain to change the dashboards of new Amaze and Brio to match with Jazz/City then ?

Fit and finish of Honda cars lately are not up to the mark. This becomes particularly serious when the asking price of a car starts approaching 1 million.

#5: When a manufacturer sets a price, buyers compare it with the competition and its value (perceptible and non perceptible) and frankly technicalities like engine displacement, ground clearance etc all become secondary. This can be explained well if you take the example of Hyundai Creta vs. competition. Sadly the Mobilio did not justify the 'higher-than-Ertiga' price tag. This hue and cry has led to Honda stopping its production

As an owner of the Honda Brio, I really cant complain much about Honda's engine, drive-ability etc, But compared to my dad's Chevvy Beat, I can confidently say that Honda has done some appalling levels of cost cutting with the Brio.
Would I buy a Mobilio considering I have an experience of owning a Honda ? Definitely no !

[mxh]

Originally Posted by rbp

Isn't BRV also built on a similar platform as the Mobilio? So shouldn't BRV also be stopped due to safety regulations?

What about the Brio and Amaze? All these 4 cars came from the same platform, so all should fail the safety tests. I have a feeling it might be Honda just taking the easy way out to axe the Mobilio.

[sumeethaldankar]

I think it was the odd shape of the vehicle which probably killed her. The car was suppose to be a Ertiga competitor wherein the Ertiga looked like a proper Van/MUV the Mobilio looked more like a station wagon a concept which belongs to a long bygone era. Combined with the not so inspiring interiors Honda shot themselves in the foot with this car.

Anyways if Honda is to be believed that they are not going to produce the Mobilio going forward due to safety norms then I am glad (for the upcoming safety norms) that we will be able to buy affordable and safer cars and not have to choose from either one of the two in the future.

[deetjohn]

Well! We saw this almost a year back, didn't we? But Honda quashed the rumors back then.

The thread is here - Rumour: Honda to discontinue Mobilio in India? EDIT: Honda says no!


Honda should have pulled the plug earlier and launched BR-V at a more competitive price point.

Ideally, Honda should have launched a better Mobilio in the first place - one with much better interior and for what it was worth.

Ironic as it is, I got a Mobilio through UberGo two days back.

[mi2n]

Originally Posted by su1978

Firstly, Honda was never interested in selling this car. Rather i would put it in this way that Honda did not have the guts to sell this car.

Why did they bother launching it then? Needing guts to sell a product indicates the product itself was substandard by market benchmarks. So that's a direct admission.

Originally Posted by su1978

Even the sales persons were never having any knowledge or interest to sell it.

What knowledge specific to the Mobilio was required when the showroom space was shared with siblings like the Brio and Amaze? There would not be much extras in the Mobilio over its siblings to learn about. Well, atleast you had the interest.

Originally Posted by su1978

Despite having no connection or incentive from Honda, i single handedly convinced the customers on buying this car and the dealer managed to clear all its stocks(almost 25 cars-Petrol/diesel combined) of Mobilio. The sales person referred my name to the prospective buyers. Next day the customers booked their cars.

Speaks volumes about your abilities in light of the reported sales figures. Kudos.

Originally Posted by su1978

Secondly, I have found this car to be utmost in comfort(compared to Ertiga-its core competetior) on long drives with a car full of luggage and 6 persons. The performance of air-conditioner is simply superb in the scorching heat of June in Delhi. Ertiga fares very poorly. In all parameters, i found Ertiga to be a dud.

Its not that the Ertiga is uncomfortable by any means as you want to portray, for the first two rows atleast. Would like to know on which exact parameters you felt the Ertiga is a "dud" over the Mobilio. Your statement is vague. Or is it just the AC?

Originally Posted by su1978

Coming to the interiors, can anyone please tell me the difference between the interiors or dashboard layout of Swift, Swift dzire and Ertiga. Have a look inside. All are same. No difference. So why this cribbing about the interiors.

The interiors simply offend me. It hurts my eyes. Take this as a market feedback. We are not on the point of sharing parts, but the quality and aesthetics of them. The Swift siblings have acceptable interiors. The Brio siblings have despicably weird and cheap looking interiors, especially for the asking price.

Originally Posted by su1978

Fourthly, for all those comments mentioning that the NVH levels are on the higher side and truck like noise inside the cabin, it is an open invitation to all the members to check the vehicle that is properly maintained and not the ones running as taxis. Many times, my colleagues whom i convey that there is a diesel engine under the hood, simply refuse to believe so. That too when they themselves are driving Maruti and Hyundai petrol engines. Also consider the million dollar question for we Indians-"Kitna deti hai". I get 23.3 kilometres to a litre of diesel in city driving conditions. Go bite the dust Maruti. Regular driving speed is 60-70

Well, modern day diesels are not really that noisy and harsh. For that matter, I find my 3 pot Mahindra diesel to have acceptable NVH too. But the fact that the i-dtec is not the most refined diesel mill in the segment is well documented and substantiated.

Originally Posted by su1978

Fifth, Hopefully all are aware that the price of vehicle depends upon engine displacement, ground clearance and many other factors which i also am not fully aware. These factors make up for the vehicle pricing. So why this hue & cry with regards to the cost of vehicle?

Please be aware that the marginal difference in specifications with your nearest rival does not invite any additional government levies if that is what you are pointing towards. So this argument may not be acceptable. Apart from that the apparent build quality of the Mobilio (as now reportedly also admitted by Honda themselves) does not command any premium. The "hue & cry" is very justifiable.

Originally Posted by su1978

Sixth, consider the service cost of a Maruti diesel and Honda diesel. I got my 30000 kms servicing done for 4300/- from the dealership. This is a dream for maruti owners. 20000 kms was done for a measly 6035 Rs. all inclusive. For me this was a dream when i got my 2011 model Ritz VDI serviced. Average bill was close to 8500 Rs every time. If required, i can publish the bill also. An open challenge to all the Maruti diesel owners to get their cars services at company owned service centres.

This aspect can never be a constant. Is Honda service cheaper than Maruti? Maybe, I'll take your word for it. But is it really that much of a differentiating factor? No! Again, take this as a market feedback. For that matter, I find Ford's service costs very acceptable too. No one can get away with over charging these days. Not for very long atleast. Also, it would be very hard to convince a prospective customer that cost of upkeep will be lesser than Maruti. Knowing Honda, might end up having to chew your own words down the line.

Originally Posted by su1978

It just has to do with the mindset that we Indians suffer from. We will buy any scrap from Maruti but not from any other company.

That's a very unprofessional statement coming from you. It is Honda and it's peers who needs a change in mindset. They must stop dumping substandard products in India. Now, that the customers have multiple choices, they are expressing their opinions with their wallets. That has got you all frustrated. You are venting that frustration on your prospective customers which is not a very smart thing to do. Knowing that a Sales representative at Honda feels that there is a problem with the mindset of Indian people, I do not think I'll drive down to a Honda Showroom anytime soon.

When a company has to bad mouth it's competition to prove its point, it means it has nothing much to say about its own products.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by mi2n

Well, atleast you had the interest.

Speaks volumes about your abilities in light of the reported sales figures. Kudos.

That's a very unprofessional statement coming from you. When a company has to bad mouth it's competition to prove its point, it means it has nothing much to say about its own products.

I don't think BHPian su1978 is sales guy at a Honda dealership - read his post properly again. He is just a happy Mobilio owner (customer) who referred/recommended others, with no incentive from Honda or dealership.

Not your fault though, I can imagine why you were mistaken

[mi2n]

Originally Posted by smartcat

I don't think BHPian su1978 is sales guy at a Honda dealership - read his post properly again. He is just a happy Mobilio owner (customer) who referred/recommended others, with no incentive from Honda or dealership.

Not your fault though, I can imagine why you were mistaken

I acknowledge my mistake and apologize. Thank you for pointing out. Apologies to su1978 if my mistake has offended you in any way. It was totally unintended.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by su1978

Firstly, Honda was never interested in selling this car.

Really? I didn't know that.

Then why Honda spent hundreds of crores in developing this? Are you thinking this is such a capable 'marquee' car, aimed only at creating a buzz?

Also, if Honda was not interested in selling it, why they are withdrawing it now?

On the comparison with Ertiga: Ertiga is built on a proper b-segment platform, while Mobilio is built on an a-segment platform. Your despair could be justified , had Mobilio lost to a 7-seater A-star.