Honda has turned extremely aggressive, leaving no stone unturned to boost market share globally. The company has increased focus on the Indian market, while at the same time the automaker continues to bring out interesting models the world over. Who saw turbocharged VTEC engines coming? No one, really. Honda is betting big on the Indian market and post the success of the Brio and Amaze, the Japanese biggie is targeting the volume segment with 3 new products which will be launched by the end of the next fiscal (March 2015).
The three cars Honda plans to launch is no mystery. One of them will be showcased next week (the new City), while the other two will make their India debut at the 2014 Auto Expo (Jazz and Mobilio). As we can see, Honda is just betting big on two platforms, the Brio platform which spawns the Brio hatchback, Amaze compact sedan and Mobilio MPV and the Jazz platform which underpins the Jazz hatchback, City sedan and Vezel compact SUV. Post the launch of the three products, Honda plans to launch the Vezel in the Indian market but there is no word on exactly when the compact SUV will grace our shores.
Crucially though, Honda could fully develop cars in India which is quite a big thing as heavy R&D will be required to design and develop a car from ground up. Probably the next generation Brio (due in 2016) or the next generation Jazz (due in 2018) would be engineered completely in India as Honda increases India focus and understand local tastes. The automaker believes 20 percent of total volumes in the Asia-Oceania region will come from Honda’s Indian operations in the current financial year (this will increase to 25 percent by 2017).
Honda is not as big a player as its arch Japanese peer Toyota which is among the top three car manufacturers in worldwide sales. However Honda aims to double global sales form 30 lakh units currently to over 60 lakh units an annum by 2017. Honda is riding high on utility vehicles as there is a global surge for such kind of vehicles. That is the reason the Honda Vezel will be sold in Asia, Europe as well as the US. Meanwhile checkout the hot Honda NSX Concept showcased at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.
