How Honda can dominate the crossover segment in India

For the past few years, Honda has been relying on the City and Amaze to help it run its shop in India. However, now is Honda's chance to dominate the Indian car market and easily reach number 2 and maybe in a few years number 1.

BHPian rajk15 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Greetings to fellow BHPians.

Recently in the "What Car?" thread, I have observed the absence of the presence of a well-packaged C-SUV in the Rs. 10-17 lakh segment.

Concerns of the already existing vehicles in the segment:

• Hyundai Creta/ Kia Seltos: Safety concerns. (3-star GNCAP rating)
• Maruti Suzuki S-Cross: Absence of a better TC unit. And perhaps the design both inside and outside needs an update.
• MG Astor: Chinese connection concerns.
• Skoda Kushaq: EPC issue and now another undetected issue leading to breakdowns; lack of reliability.
• VW Taigun: Same as the Kushaq. Also, it demands a premium over the Kushaq and is comparatively less VFM.
• Tata & Mahindra: Lack of reliability and guarantee of fuss-free ownership; Also the absence of a vehicle in the segment.

Note: Many people also do not prefer VAGs due to the assumed high maintenance.

Similar concerns for the respective car manufacturers have been raised in lower segments as well.

Trends in the market:

Trends have changed and people now want a vehicle with a higher stance, high ground clearance, and a long list of features along with a good safety kit.
IMO, the priorities usually go as follows:

1. Safety
2. Reliability (1 and 2 are interchangeable)
3. Feature rich
4. Driving Dynamics (3 and 4 are interchangeable)

Honda's chance to dominate the Indian car market:

For the past few years, Honda has been relying on the City and Amaze to help it run its shop in India. However, now is Honda's chance to dominate the Indian car market and easily reach number 2 and maybe in a few years number 1.

Their new cars could/should have:

• Rock-solid Japanese reliability (Indians love Japs, they only go to the Koreans (and further) because of lack of options)
• Good safety (4* GNCAP with a stable structure for the Amaze is re-assuring)
• VFM offering (IMO, 50K premium for Honda is acceptable but not over that)
• Honda's possible plan of action to conquer the segment-
• Honda City based Creta rival
• Honda City based Nexon rival
• Honda City based Altroz/i20 rival (Jazz & WR-V are lost causes)
• Honda Amaze based Tiago rival
• Honda Amaze based Punch rival

With this plan, Honda can easily take Hyundai's spot in the Indian car market. Also, the market has largely moved to petrols, and petrols is their strong area. I sincerely hope someone at Honda reads this and we have some good offerings in India.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

There is a better chance of the incumbents improving on their weaknesses, rather than Honda bringing some game-changing SUV / Crossover. Even internationally, Honda is stuck doing "more of the same thing" (YAWN) and nothing new. The company today simply doesn't have the aggression + hunger it had 20 years back. Fun fact = at one time, Honda India was the top player in each segment it had a presence in with the City, Civic, Accord & CR-V all being either the no.1 or no.2 in their respective categories.

Newbies like Kia & MG are offering more relevant products & technology today. Sat in an Astor recently?

10-years ago, I had started a thread on Honda's challenges & weaknesses. Shockingly, a lot of those points still apply today so the management is clearly snoozing. I mean, think about it, what has Honda India done in the last decade that truly stood out? I can't come up with anything. Not a single standout product, no game-changing tech, not one brave & aggressive move.

Here's what BHPian warrioraks had to say on the matter:

As a start, all Honda needs is 3 good cars to make a comeback:

CSUV competing with Nexon etc

SUV competing with Creta/Seltos.

Full blooded SUV priced against the mighty Fortuner.

Any more launches and it will distract the company. Any less launches would mean they are leaving serious money on the table.

Honda still has the brand name in the Indian market that can be capitalised on. Not sure if we will be able to say that in a couple of years.

Here's what BHPian Thebat had to say on the matter:

If Honda wanted to do it, they probably would have. Incompetent management and undesirable products are not a good combination to dominate anything leave alone the hyper competitive and sensitive Indian auto market.

Honda day on day is looking more like a lost cause. Neither is their new design language attractive nor are they offering anything unique to the market.

Creating new cars based on existing platforms costs a lot of money and it doesn't currently look like they are ready to do it with focus being more on EV's.

With a renewed sense of nationalism sweeping our masses I doubt people would ditch the highly competitive and capable Nexon and XUV 300 and run to buy a Honda.

No one thinks Honda is premium or desirable anymore. Their cars like their showrooms are dull, drab and undesirable places to be in.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.