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Honda's new hatchback and compact SUV for India by 2017

Honda has shifted its focus from offering premium vehicles in India to products catering to the mass market. Recently, the company launched the Mobilio - a people carrier, making it Honda's fourth car in the sub 10 lakh rupees category, after the Brio, Amaze and City, with the CR-V being the company's only premium offering in India. Honda has now begun development of two more vehicles - a small hatchback and a compact SUV. Both these new cars will be based on the same GSP platform as that of the Brio and Mobilio and are likely to hit the showrooms by 2017.

The small car will be priced below Rs.4 lakh and will compete with cars like the Maruti Wagon R, Hyundai i10 and the Chevrolet Beat. The hatchback segment contributes to nearly 51% of total car sales in the country and this new car from Honda is expected to drive significant volumes for the company.

The sub 4 meter compact SUV is a rapidly growing segment in India and Honda will develop the new compact SUV to compete with Ford's EcoSport, which has received an over-whelming response from Indian car buyers. Big players such as Maruti, Mahindra and Hyundai too are expected to introduce their offerings in this segment soon.

Honda is focusing on expanding its dealership and service network from 107 to 150 cities in India, by March 2015.

Clearly, the company now aims to penetrate into the volume segment in India and it has been successful with this strategy too. Recently, Honda was the 3rd largest selling automobile company in India in June 2014, overtaking M&M. Adding products from these two new segments to their existing product line, the company aims to increase its market share to double digits in India.

 

Source: The Economic Times

 
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