The Honda Mobilio hasn’t been received well in India and after the initial sales performance, it simply hasn’t managed to find new buyers with only 261 units sold last month.
The Honda Mobilio has turned out to be the least selling car for the Japanese brand in India and sales have been so low that the company hasn’t produced a single unit since the last 10 months. This means the Honda Mobilio wasn’t manufactured at all, this year and the stopping of production happened in end-November. Dealers still haven’t managed to clear stock and thus production won’t commence in the near future.
There were reports that Honda would discontinue the Mobilio after the launch of the BR-V but the company denied them and states it has no plans to axe the 7-seater MPV. Launched in July 2014, sales of the Mobilio averaged at 3400 units per month in the first year but fell sharply thereafter, recording just 261 units last month. A discount of up to Rs. 1 lakh is being offered on this vehicle.
There are multiple reasons for the poor sales of the Honda Mobilio. The vehicle was priced optimistically, positioned against established rivals and not offered in the commercial segment where UVs are popular. Further, the MPV segment has been shrinking and that’s the reason Hyundai and GM cancelled its plans to launch their Hexa Space based MPV and Spin respectively.
With the launch of the BR-V, there is a certain cannibalisation happening between the Mobilio and BR-V as the latter is based on the former, sharing parts, components, engine and a lot more amongst each other. Honda sold 2193 units of the BR-V last month which is much lesser than what the Mobilio sold in its hay days. The Japanese manufacturer’s top selling model is the City which sold 5855 units in September 2016 while the Amaze followed in with 2861 cars sold.
Honda Mobilio Production
– Honda hasn’t manufactured even a single unit of the Mobilio in 2016
– The company is still clearing stock of the MPV
– Poor demand of the Mobilio has resulted in high discounts
– This vehicle has become the worst seller for Honda in India
Source – Business-Standard.com