[gjnnbagal]

(Not just Civic) Entire D segment of Sedan cars is dying

Pic credit: GOT

[klgiridhar]

Discontinuing CRV is understandable but why civic? Even though it came with an old 1.8 with an unenthusiastic CVT, it is still the only car in the segment managing to sell in triple digits considering the sudden boom for crossovers. Instead of discontinuing forever, I wish they would relaunch it with a manual or with the powerful 1.5 VTEC turbo sometime in the near future.

Honestly, I am not liking this new trend of either it should be an SUV or no car at all. Even though some had the opinion of civic not making much sense with city growing in size, city was way inferior when it comes to build quality, fit and finish and dynamics after I personally saw them few months back. The suspension and high speed composure of civic can never be matched by city. We are missing out on great, beautiful, and extremely dynamic sedans. The crossovers are good but can't replace these D segment sedans in dynamics, ride and interior quality, no matter whatever turbo is plonked in them. And there are still people who love sedans but are now forced to go for crossovers due to lack of options.

Though all is not lost yet. Whoever is leading Honda India should stop smoking whatever they are, and launch the WRV with city's 1.5 as well as bring the next gen HRV 2021 asap to India by end of next year or early 2022 and a hatchback, using the Amaze platform, as a replacement for discontinued brio. Maybe they can also bring back CRV as well, but as a competition to Tucson instead of aiming for Fortuner & co. Else, I will not be surprised if they even leave India in the next 5 years. Either they realise now and improve or perish into history books.

The most happiest person now would be Zac Hollis . With civic gone, it is line clear for Octavia to arrive in style for Q2 2021.

[Simhi]

Sad news. Around 7 to 8 years back, CR-V along with Ford Endeavor were aspirational products for my spouse in the SUV segment.

I do hope Honda launches these products in India in the future. Meanwhile, if Honda needs to be competitive, now is the right time to announce launch of HR-V to take on Creta, Seltos, Compass, Harrier etc.

[Redline6800]

Originally Posted by M00M

Shows complete lack of ground market realities.
I think the management of Honda india should be completely sacked it is long overdue.

Absolutely agree - they have taken a race horse and made it a donkey in market perception with Hyundai, Kia, VW and Skoda all now ranking higher in customer perception.

Could not believe this news of Civic and CR-V being discontinued so suddenly when I first read it.

This is a real shame and poor show on Honda's part not to have announced this earlier and cleared stock.

These are expensive cars that will immediately lose 20% of their resale value and damage the brand immeasurably for customers who have purchased the Civic and CR-V.

After 20 years with my City and 8 years with our Brio, we had always assumed our next new car will also be a Honda but sadly this is not likely to happen now.

My faith in Honda has been badly dented would rather buy a Toyota instead or take my chances with VW/Skoda.

[RT13]

Utterly bizarre but sadly in keeping with their crazy decisions over the last few years. First they introduced the Mobilio with that excellent City ivtec petrol engine and then gave it the far more downmarket interiors of the Brio. Then they discontinued it after introducing the BRV. Then they discontinued the BRV supposedly to introduce something else which never happened. They introduced a bulked up Jazz as a WRV while they had so many categories unaddressed. They discontinued the Accord. Before that they ran the Civic for 7 years only to discontinue it until 2019 and now they are discontinuing again! Add to this the constant waffling on engines on offer.

It isn’t too different in the motorcycle market I suppose. The models on offer here have always been half apologetic. As if we didn’t deserve the best in their stable. Which is still fine if they chose to position themselves as people-movers who wanted to simply acquire scale and market share by volume. But even there it seems a half-hearted attempt.

My only conclusion here is that India has never been a serious enough market for Honda. For the global juggernaut that spans so many industries let alone categories, this is probably a drop in the ocean. For all you know they decided the institutional challenges of doing business in India were not in keeping with their ethos and decided to just phase it down. I’m thinking it’s a similar cultural challenge for Toyota.

Frankly though, it’s only we the consumers who lose out on truly well-engineered products. Sad..

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by sangam_mm93

Civic and CRV discontinued! What a sad thing to happen to Indian auto market. I don't know if an MT Civic Petrol would have changed anything.

Attachment 2096314

Totally hopeless and incompetent company! They deserve the current market share that they 'enjoy'.

CRV & Civic dpares are assured for 8 years mandatorily, but general sentiment and resale will just tank. No one in their right mind will ever buy a Honda luxury vehicle even if they introduced one later.

Further, I just don't think they have the guts & agility to get down into the cutthroat B1/B2/C1/C2 segments and fight Kia, Hyundai, Tatas and of course Maruti.

After so many years, they couldn't get their Vezel/ HR-V to India to take advantage of the crossover craze

[shreevishnu]

Upgrading from City? Buy Innova...seems to be the rule now. Nobody cares for D segment sedan - both sales and manufacturers.

P.s. - Enthusiasts wait for Octavia

[RT13]

Originally Posted by Redline6800

My faith in Honda has been badly dented would rather buy a Toyota instead or take my chances with VW/Skoda.

Sadly Toyota doesn’t seem better. In fact, you’ll probably be buying Maruti products with the Toyota badge henceforth. Not that there’s anything wrong with Maruti - personally I’m a massive fan of theirs and the absolute mental peace you get with a product from their stable. It just won’t be a Toyota is all.

With the Korean twins clearly focusing on bling and not giving a shit about customer feedback on things like braking, VAG clearly being global crooks, M&M and Tata trying hard but definitely not yet up there with the Japanese and Germans on finish and reliability, and Renault and Nissan trying to figure out the world in general, I’m not sure what brand other than Maruti Suzuki to look to for complete reliability and peace of mind.

But to have that combined with both performance and comfort seems a distant dream now.

Perhaps we need to just get used to the new reality.

[bigron]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

Sad day for people who bought these in the recent past. Resale values plunge. There should be a law making sure that customers are made aware of the model discontinuation at least 6 months before it happens.
With Honda, that's not the case. Imagine buying a 25 plus lakh car only to find out it got discontinued a year later. Disappointing.

Any one who has bought a CRV or the Civic is in safe hands as far as service and spares are concerned. There is an unspoken rule among manufacturers that they would support discontinued cars for about 10 years from the year they were discontinued. The problem only comes when the brand itself plans to pack up and leave the country altogether. Which is not the case for Honda yet.

As far as resale value is concerned, its a direct outcome of demand and supply. Any one buying a petrol civic or crv already knows its value is going to tank the minute the car comes in the used market. The diesel CRV will still fare better. Pristine 2.4 AT CRV's from just a few years ago can be had for i20/baleno money and the company was all along producing and selling the model.

[abhi_tjet]

Woah, this was quick!
Sadly, rate of launching products by Honda India is very slow as compared to axing. No comments on CRV but Civic was quite a halo product. Despite of strapping lethargic engines in it, Civic was bestseller(in its segment) mainly due to the good brand value of the earlier generation Civic.
Let's hope Honda doesn't quit.

[Redline6800]

Originally Posted by RT13

Not that there’s anything wrong with Maruti - personally I’m a massive fan of theirs and the absolute mental peace you get with a product from their stable.

I’m not sure what brand other than Maruti Suzuki to look to for complete reliability and peace of mind.

But to have that combined with both performance and comfort seems a distant dream now.

Agree, I think Maruti makes some very sensible cars but has nothing in the 15L plus ex-showroom bracket.

Honda offered a premium experience without the headache of the German owned brands and better long term ownership than the Korean brands.

Till now I felt Honda would not exit the Indian Market completely but I have my doubts on that also now.

Honda will get squeezed out of the small pocket of the market it is still relevant in by its more fleet footed competitors.

Will Honda still be relevant in 2025 ?

We keep our cars for really long min 8 years , so trust in thr brand is as important as the ownership, usage and maintenance experience.

[RT13]

Originally Posted by Redline6800

Will Honda still be relevant in 2025 ?

We keep our cars for really long min 8 years , so trust in thr brand is as important as the ownership, usage and maintenance experience.

I see where you’re coming from. My Dad’s Gen 3 Honda City is simply irreplaceable for the combination of driving quality, that silent engine and ridiculously low maintenance (both work and cost). Having said which, given Honda’s excellent build quality and long-term reliability, I think it’s still worth it for people such as yourself (and me), who keep their cars for a long time. Cost of servicing is still very low compared to others of the same category or (even those below) and I don’t think spare parts will be any issue at all. All-in-all you can still buy a Honda and sleep easy. But for those who are constantly swapping cars every 3-4 years and calculating resale value, it’s a definite hit.

[kauphylover]

I bought a Civic in Jan this year. I had previously owned a 2001 City and I had no problem with spares even until 2019 (not that I needed many). I expect it to be the same for the Civic as well. But it's really sad to see Honda's decline from a premium aspirational brand to an also-ran. They've been really poor at gauging the market and even at playing catch-up.

[Amsdoc]

The CRV was simply overpriced and it showed in the sales figures. D segment sedans are a dying breed. People either buy a SUV or those who want a sedan, fork out a bit more and buy the premium sedans especially when paying a lot of money for the poor Civic. So this is not a surprise.

I think in keeping with the global trend, Honda will invest in bringing a mid priced SUV in the 15-20L segment. That said I was very surprised with the lack of effort to boost up the WRV (like giving it a decent auto).

Both Honda and Toyota have really played their cards very badly in India.

[AutoConsultant]

I read somewhere that the Tapukara plant is suitable to make mid-size cars only and that's why they are discontinuing these 2 models. Hence, we cannot expect any car above the mid size segment anytime in the near future.

That leaves them with just 4 models, the 2 sedans which are performing decently and the Jazz/WRV which are falling behind every day in the competitive segment.

They sure cannot survive on this. They need an entry level hatch and a mid-size SUV ASAP! Also, they need to replace WRV, it stands nowhere in the CSUV market.

I am planning to buy a City in the coming months but Honda is not giving me much confidence, waiting for the VW Taigun and then will make the decision.