[Pyrotek]

Someone here rightly said that the Honda we desire is the one that sells in the US. Cars like the Civic, CR-V, HR-V, Accord, Passport, and Pilot. Why Honda doesn't see it the same way is an eternal mystery. As far as the WR-V goes, great exterior but it needs a complete redo on the dashboard for it to be more appealing.

[rutvij]

Originally Posted by Pyrotek

Someone here rightly said that the Honda we desire is the one that sells in the US. Cars like the Civic, CR-V, HR-V, Accord, Passport, and Pilot. Why Honda doesn't see it the same way is an eternal mystery. As far as the WR-V goes, great exterior but it needs a complete redo on the dashboard for it to be more appealing.

Completely agree with you. India has moved on. All auto companies in India have moved on. But Honda is still living in 90's. They have been talking about HRV since ages but it still is illusive for Honda fans here. Now it looks like we will have another so called "Made for India" basic product in place of HRV. Looking at posts of frustrated Honda fans in this thread, it seems that even they have lost all hopes from Honda. At least I have....

[SoumenD]

Being a Honda one thing we can be sure of being better than Creta/Seltos is ‘safety’. If Jazz and Amaze results are anything to go by, this new crossover should be safer than the koreans at least .

But sadly that criteria doesn’t work in our market as proven by the segment leaders and hence they should make sure the interiors atleast match the City, if not civic and likes. Diesel am sure won’t be offered but both petrol and hybrid should be offered from the start with automatics.

If they come up with AMAZE-ish interiors, they better keep it sub4m and price it where WRV was. Bringing it to Creta segment will be suicidal.

[chittybang]

Honda excluded all their desirable cars and stuck to The CITY and below section. That is where they lost it. They had a niche. It would have been better to stick with the CIVIC and CRV. At this rate Honda will keep planning new vehicles while others move ahead into the next generation of their current lot of vehicles. Every time Honda thinks " India specific" they think cheap and low cost. It is a mindset and I have not seen any indication of that changing in the near future.They keep making considerations and nomenclatures for future cars( HRV, may be an eRV) but nothing materialises.

As a CITY owner I have given up on them, I know that when the time comes I will have to upgrade out of the brand. They leave me no option.

[Hemi6.2]

Originally Posted by chittybang

Honda excluded all their desirable cars and stuck to The CITY and below section. That is where they lost it. They had a niche. It would have been better to stick with the CIVIC and CRV. .

Rightly said @chittybang, Honda had the brand pull to rival Skoda head to head through the early 2000's,pitching Civic to the Octavia, Accord to the Superb and further up should have been the plan all along.
The introduction of cheap economy cars like Brio and Amaze just killed that charm and prestige of Honda and it became mass market brand while Skoda still enjoys aspirational value to this day.

[blueather]

They will definitely offer this one with that miserable 1.2 engine in most of the variant with 1.5 reserved for the top variants.
They might as well say goodbye if they're not going to bring any turbo engines in Indian cars.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Forget the lame 1.2 for a moment. Honda had the 1.5D+CVT combo for the Amaze and they couldn't plonk it in the WRV, Jazz or even the City (remember the 1.4D Corolla, this combo on City would be anyday better than that).

WRV space + 1.5 D + CVT would have made wonders and set the chart on fire. But nope. Honda have dug a big grave for themselves. Its better to move on.

[Highflyer]

There is a new HRV launched in Indonesia. Spec wise it looks pretty cool.

https://www.honda-indonesia.com/hr-v

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by Hemi6.2

Rightly said @chittybang, Honda had the brand pull to rival Skoda head to head through the early 2000's,pitching Civic to the Octavia, Accord to the Superb and further up should have been the plan all along.
The introduction of cheap economy cars like Brio and Amaze just killed that charm and prestige of Honda and it became mass market brand while Skoda still enjoys aspirational value to this day.

Yes, I think Skoda India higher ups did a great job by discontinuing the Fabia and focusing on high end sedans and SUVs, cementing their brand image as a luxury brand. Most people still associate Skoda as even more luxurious and aspirational than its parent company VW, despite executives attempts to position VW higher up. Octavia, superb in India are still seen as better cars than the Jetta or Passat.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by Aaron:)

Nothing new with the platform sharing - Hyundai/Kia are doing the same thing.

I agree here. As far as i know, this is brand new car. This car will be introduced very first in Indian market and the same car will be exported back to Japan later. As per Honda insider the car is really a head turner. The compact SUV space is too brutal, i guess this is why Honda has chosen the Creta segment to compete where they have some headroom to play wrt cost vis a vis equipment on offer.

[Motorhead23]

I would like to share a conversation excerpt here from 2020 with one of the Product Managers from Honda [who previously worked with Hyundai as well] .

My Ques: What is the basic difference in working psychology of Honda & Hyundai ? [ Very Common Question]

His Ans : Imagine you are stranded in a dessert with a Japanese from Honda & a Korean from Hyundai. Now you tell them that there might be water available in a particular direction, the difference is their reaction to your opinion:

Hyundai: The Korean will immediately make a rush towards it and will adapt to any condition on his way, but ensure he is on the move and not lose any time.

Honda: The Japanese will first draft a plan for his journey; look whether he has all the gears required to undertake it; simulate most likely scenarios he may encounter during his run; set milestones to perform PDCA [ Plan - Do - Check - Act ] ensuring he is on track for his target. Once he has concluded the entire plan, he would finally start his journey.

To summarize, it is not that Hyundai doesn't focus on planning, they do plan but at the same time they are very fast on adapting to the market, changing external scenarios but ensure they are moving, whereas people at Honda do extensive planning & ensure they start rolling their plan once all the required conditions are met. Else they will further modify the plan to accommodate the change or wait for things to be back at normal [ Case Example City HEV Launch Initial Plan - Apr'21, the upcoming SUV Initial Plan - Jun'22]

Having said that, I am pretty confident of the product they are building this time codenamed 3US. Though it is based on Amaze platform, it is carefully designed for Indian market in HRAP [ Honda R&D Center Thailand] taking interior design cues from the upcoming 5th Gen City facelift and the HR-V [ Slanting C Pillar ] . The product will feature all of their latest tech of ADAS, HEV, Connectivity etc and one expect a 4/5 Star safety category. The key to success will be pricing and pricing only.

[pannags]

The following, in brief, has been then Honda CSUV(HR-V) story in India. I'm not sure how certain the reports of the upcoming CSUV are.

Economic Times Auto - Mar-2017

Indian-arm of Japanese carmaker Honda Cars India may soon launch compact SUV HR-V and premium sedan Civic in India. In an exclusive interview with ETAuto, Honda Cars India, President & CEO, Yoichiro Ueno said, "We are getting a lot of request from customers and dealers for HR-V and Civic. We are evaluating both the cars to launch in India." With these launches on the card, Honda is gunning to win back its premium carmaker
image

CarToq - April-2019

Honda Cars India has shown its dealers the HR-V compact SUV recently. The compact SUV is likely to be launched in India by the end of 2019 as the Japanese automaker’s challenger to the likes of the Hyundai Creta and the Tata Harrier. The Vezel will sit in the space between the Honda BR-V and CR-V SUVs, as a small but premium vehicle that will seat five passengers.

CarDekho - Feb-2021

The Honda HR-V was expected to be the brand’s entrant in India’s compact SUV segment. With the generational update due, it was likely to arrive in a new avatar. Honda has now revealed the latest iteration of its compact SUV

Autocar - Jan-2022

The previous-gen HR-V was slated to come to India in 2019, but the plan was cancelled just a few months ahead of a market launch. While Honda subsequently replaced the HR-V with an all-new model globally, the SUV never made it to India thereafter.

MotorOctane - Jan-2023

Honda seems to have woken up from its deep slumber. It is working on two new SUVs for the Indian market; a Nexon-size SUV and a Creta-size SUV. However, one could be launched in 2023 and the other in 2024

[Asoon]

Aren't they a decade late ? Honda used to command a strong position in 8L+ segment from 2000-2014, in fact they were Maruti for 8-10L car (with their City)

Then Duster came, created a new segment, honda was silent, then Eco Sport created another new segment, then there was a half hearted effort with BRV, then Create / Brezza care and owned thes segment created by Renault | Ford, then also there was silence from Honda (with a second half hearted effort of WRV)

Honda is a classic example of how you can loose your brand grip with a weak product strategy. You need a solid (generation above) product to build your space in a competitive segment, but this time also I see a mediocre approach

[volkman10]

Honda's New SUV for emerging markets (where HR-V is not marketed) will likely come in 2 formats.

- The project should originate a model with two variants - one with 5 and the other with 7 seats

- Inside, everything indicates that the model will feature the same digital scheme seen in recent releases, such as the new generations of Accord and CR-V. In this sense, 10.2-inch digital instrument frame and 12.3-inch multimedia center are expected.


Link

[Venkatesh]

Honda New SUV

Kicking off 2023 with a sneak peek of the upcoming All-New Honda SUV. Premiering this summer.

Link