Honda is said to be working on a sedan based on the Brio platform. This sedan is expected to be launched in 2013 and won’t simply be a Brio with a boot. Instead Honda will do what they have done between the Jazz and City, both of which are based on the same platform but look poles apart. The Honda Brio is a very cute looking car and the sedan version would look quite good too. The Japanese automaker plans to offer the Brio sedan in both petrol and diesel engined options, with prices expected to be between Rs. 5-7 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi). There will be around six variants on offer and the company could bring in an automatic version some time later.
MotorBeam rendering specialist has come up with a rendering of the 2013 Honda Brio sedan, which shows that the idea of a Brio sedan doesn’t seem abrupt or out of place at all. The Brio hatchback’s rear is love it or hate it, which won’t be the case with the Brio sedan as it won’t have a glass boot. Power will come from the same 1.2-litre i-VTEC engine which produces 88 BHP of power at 6000 RPM and 109 Nm of torque at 4600 RPM. A compact diesel engine is in the works as well, with both the engines being mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.
What is still uncertain is whether Honda will try to make the Brio sedan less than 4-meters in length to take benefit of the lower excise duty on such cars. This would almost certainly beat the purpose of the Brio sedan as it would offer too little boot space for a sedan, which would be less than the Jazz hatchback. But considering the length of the Brio hatchback is 3610 mm, Honda might just be able to squeeze in a boot and offer around 400-litre of boot space. The Brio sedan will compete with the Toyota Etios, Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire and Ford Fiesta Classic.
