[Guna]

Originally Posted by harry10

Just a week back my bhaiya has bought a ANHC instead of Linea because of H badge so the truth remains most general people with limited knowledge about cars are still inclined towards honda.

This is true. Like in many other areas in life, when someone is not able to base a decision on scentific/factual assessment, he/she is likely to go with the popular perception. This is what the brand perception is all about.
This is what some of us do when it comes to selecting a doctor!

[anachronix]

So, anything with a H badge deserves special treatment & special customers! Interesting!

Watch out fellas, there is a rumor that Rickshaws are planning a decal upgrade to H and they are going to charge a premium on the meter charge

[vasudeva]

Although Honda may justify (rightly so) that the yen has appreciated and so have the costs, have they tried to tell us that while the yen has appreciated, steel, aluminium, and metal prices have crashed. For example, cold rolled (used on doors, panels, used for paint) steel prices have declined from Rs. 48-50,000/tonne in Aug/Sep 2008 to Rs. 38-39,000/tonne now. Hot rolled steel prices (used in structurals) have also declined by equivalent amounts. Aluminium prices have crashed by around Rs. 30,000/tonne.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Guna

This is true. Like in many other areas in life, when someone is not able to base a decision on scentific/factual assessment, he/she is likely to go with the popular perception. This is what the brand perception is all about.
This is what some of us do when it comes to selecting a doctor!

True. I am not against Honda. I like their cars a lot but am against the premium they charge from customers. Most of them dont realise as they go with the brand image and the snob value attached to it.
Bhaiya is one of them. And i dont blame him or others for that.

What they don't know how can that be argued upon but for people like us who know the facts and still are ready to be ripped apart - now thats something hard to digest.

@Vasudeva - A vaild point. Also why aren't other manufacturers raising their car prices or am i missing something here?

[indivic]

Originally Posted by zoom_vroom

Why don't car makers localise parts before launching them in India.
10 years in India, Honda could not localise parts for its cars. i guess by this time new vendors can be raised from scratch.
Vendors like Lumax, Minda etc make world class products.
Maruti i heard launches models with 50-60 % localization.

Procure parts from local vendors, maintain strict quality standards and you still can make a world class product in India.Then it doesn't matter if Rupee is weak or strong, the customer won't feel the pinch of swinging economies.

If I remember correctly the Civic was 70% localised at launch and according to Honda they were looking to increase it further.

The Civic has also got some cheap/flimsy plastics but not where you would come into contact daily.

My car's glovebox handle rattles like it's got the shivers, last week at the service centre I got the feedback that it was a common problem because of the way it is designed, so if I have to get rid of the rattling I need to change the entire glovebox lid

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by indivic

My car's glovebox handle rattles like it's got the shivers, last week at the service centre I got the feedback that it was a common problem because of the way it is designed, so if I have to get rid of the rattling I need to change the entire glovebox lid

Have you tried to get it corrected?. It can go loose and can be tightened, so that for some time, the glovebox noise is less or non-existent. It may be in the dealer's interest to fob you off with the statement: `it was a common problem'. They should instead try to do the best they can.

[indivic]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Have you tried to get it corrected?. It can go loose and can be tightened, so that for some time, the glovebox noise is less or non-existent. It may be in the dealer's interest to fob you off with the statement: `it was a common problem'. They should instead try to do the best they can.

Yes once, actually the lid looks like a single mould item,I cannot see any screw on the back side to see how the handle is fixed, so the only moving part (no pun intended) is the handle, the guy at the service centre tried a crude way of tightening which sounded as if the handle might come off in his hand. I stopped him halfway in his attempt.

Since then, I stop at questioning the various service advisors in the hope that someone might be bright enough to fix it. There are no screws as far as I can see that I can tighten on my own so I just turn up the volume just a tad more than normal and pretend that it does not exist.

[csnanjappa]

Brand Image comes at price , When people pay price they pay for the quality.
I saw a 1st gen Honda city outside my office today and build quality still looks so good.
I cant agree the same with a Maruthi or Hyundai will look the same.

When we pay a price i guess we get value for that price ,
value like *** , Maintenance, insulation from depreciation, Longevity, Light clutch , Better suspension, better FE, Futuristic engine.

I am not saying that the price they increased is correct.
If Honda guys think the sales can sustain they will increase price. Its up to the customer to find the value for the product.
If there is a better product at that price we can surely go for that. We can just boycott the product , which in turn will bring down the price.

5 lac loan :
@10% = 60*12748(emi) = 764880
@12% = 60*13346(emi) = 800760

Make use of low interest and forget about the price increase.)

[csnanjappa]

Sorry for the late reply.

Yes, the 1.2 Jazz will be released first and the 1.5 only a few months
later. The 1.5 is the only one that will come with a paddle shift.

AAA

----- Original Message -----
From: XXXXXXX
To: <aaa@autocarindia.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 3:16 PM
Subject: Honda Jazz Paddle Shift


>
> AAA,
>
> I saw in your current ACI march issues saying that Jazz will be there in
> June, i have been waiting for this car for very long time now . My
> question
> here will the 1.2ltr model come with semi-automatic transmission like the
> NHC S AT or will the semi-automatic model come only with 1.5ltr . Are you
> sure only the 1.2ltr will released first

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by csnanjappa

I saw a 1st gen Honda city outside my office today and build quality still looks so good. I cant agree the same with a Maruthi or Hyundai will look the same.

Well, can't speak about Hyundai (never owned one), but a Maruti can also look the same (this is from experience) - depends not only on the car, but also how it is maintained, the usage etc. Just like a banged-up OHC does not mean the car/brand is inherently bad.

We all know Hondas are overpriced here - for whatever reason. But it ain't illegal, so why crib ? Let them price it as they wish. And given that they lead the segments they are in, inspite of the pricing, I would say that it would be foolish of them if they did not charge a premium. After all when 'bakras' are available to pay the premium, why not ?

Ofcourse with the recent price hikes, I think they are stretching their luck a bit too much. Sales charts will tell whether their decision was right or not.

My only doubt is about the snob value of a Honda. Where did this come from ? Snob value is developed over years. The RR's were bought by Indian Maharajas many decades ago and still continue to have snob value. Mercs were inordinately expensive and known to have snob value. But what snob value do you see in a 7-lakh Honda (old NHC) ?

Hondas started selling in India only in the late nineties. Maybe Indians who did stints in the US would have known about Honda before that. But there again it is just a normal car - a reliable workhorse. No snob value.

Just trying to understand how Honda got a snob value in India.

[amit]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

My only doubt is about the snob value of a Honda. Where did this come from ? Snob value is developed over years. The RR's were bought by Indian Maharajas many decades ago and still continue to have snob value. Mercs were inordinately expensive and known to have snob value. But what snob value do you see in a 7-lakh Honda (old NHC) ?

Hondas started selling in India only in the late nineties. Maybe Indians who did stints in the US would have known about Honda before that. But there again it is just a normal car - a reliable workhorse. No snob value.

Just trying to understand how Honda got a snob value in India.

It's obvious that you are neither enlightened, nor knowlegeable enough to understand this. No wonder you don't own a Honda!

But don't worry, our enlightened Honda owner Diabloo will educate you on that. Hopefully after that you will attain a higher level of understanding, knowlege and intelligence and will qualify to own a Honda in India.

[supremeBaleno]

Amit, I came close to becoming one of the 'bakras' or 'enlightened ones' (depending on viewpoint) 4 years ago. Though I did not see any snob value in the NHC, the FE was the USP. And the downside was the exterior looks.

Ofcourse, finally some simple maths solved the dilemna for me. Should I get a more powerful Baleno for 5.8lakhs or pay 7.4lakhs for base-version NHC to get 1kmpl more in city. I thought it logical to go for the former and use the 1.6lakhs I saved to fuel my Baleno + get some ICE and other accessories.

Ofcourse, if the exterior was that of the OHC, I would not have thought twice before becoming a bakra. Anyway, to each his own. Someone liked NHC and bought it, well good for him/her.

[Yeldo]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

We all know Hondas are overpriced here - for whatever reason.

You say overpricing? Rather than being high, I find them irrational.

See this: (All Indian prices are the upcoming revised ones)
Honda CRV 2.4AT:
India: 23.44L/ Australia: 15L
Honda City MT:
India: 7.81L/ Australia: 6.9L/ Labuan: 7.9L
Honda Civic MT:
India: 12.46L/ Australia: 7.69L/ Labuan: 10L
Honda Accord V6:
India: 25L/ Australia: 14L/ Labuan: 19L/ Japan (Inspire): 20L

I just compared prices across some major Asia- Pacific markets. The City seems to be somewhat evenly priced everywhere. The Accord and the CRV suffers most from the irrational strategy in India.

Sometimes, Honda’s Indian prices seem to be competition- driven. They look at the competitor's prices, and structure their prices at a premium in each respective class.

The first Citys earned reputation as the choice for professionals like doctors, senior managers, CA’s, etc. The Lancers and Escorts of those days appealed more to businessmen with their available Diesel engines. That image of an “educated” “upscale” owner perhaps does the trick for Honda.

[srishiva]

Hondas are overpriced even in the U.S compared to american, korean and other Japanese brands (except Toyota which are on par).
So why do all the other guys pay more for Honda and Toyota? Not knowledgeable and enlightened?

I HOPE Honda brings down the price of their cars. For someone who owned most of Honda cars and one Acura(and a German too, that should be for a thread on German car prices), I am able to buy only upto a Civic here.

[oss]

Originally Posted by diabloo

If a car costs 6L and if you are willing pay only 5L, then you are not the customer for that car. But you can always say that 6L car is overpriced

Well, it's not just the cost & price; there is something called the worth in between.

The success of Honda lies in the fact that they convinced peole (and keep convincing about 4000 odd customers every month), that it is worth the price. Got to give the credit to them for that, if not for the product.

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Although Honda may justify (rightly so) that the yen has appreciated and so have the costs, have they tried to tell us that while the yen has appreciated, steel, aluminium, and metal prices have crashed.

Yen may have appreciated against USD, but INR has depreciated big time against USD. In effect Yen has marginally moved against INR, so Honda is just using it as an excuse to increase the price.

They probably are surprised themselves that so many people are willing to pay the premium, even with the lousy interiors, and why not try and push the luck a bit more. Milk the market when there are enough people willing to get milked